PHOENIX, May 20, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- U-Box® Load Share, the latest green
initiative from U-Haul® to support today's gig economy,
is a 2024 Champions of Change honoree.
U-Haul was among 10 finalists recognized as the "Most
Innovative" companies on May 16 at
the DoubleTree Resort in Paradise
Valley, thanks to its implementation of the groundbreaking
Load Share program.
The Champions of Change awards are hosted by Az Business
Magazine, an AZ Big Media publication, to celebrate dynamic
innovators and trailblazers, visionary thinkers and
philanthropists, and business and nonprofit leaders across
Arizona.
"Being named a Champion of Change is a great honor, and it's
further affirmation that U-Box Load Share is needed in today's
economy," said Sam Shoen, U-Box
Program Director. "The environmental impact of Load Share is very
real, and our customers appreciate that along with the many other
benefits. We are providing a safe, collaborative way to engage in
smarter and greener moving solutions."
This is the latest in a line of commendations for U-Box Load
Share. In December, it was named the 2023 Best in Biz Awards gold
winner for Most Environmentally Friendly Service of the Year. It
also earned silver awards for Most Innovative Service of the Year
and Consumer Service of the Year.
That comes on the heels of winning 2022 Sustainability Service
of the Year from The Business Intelligence Group and being named a
2022 Social Impact Awards finalist by PR News.
How does U-Box Load Share work?
A Load Share occurs when a family moving its belongings in a
U-Haul truck agrees to tow a trailer loaded with another
family's U-Box portable moving container to the
same destination city. Each transaction is monitored and managed by
centralized U-Haul personnel. A vetting process is used to
pre-select potential candidates, with priority on those customers
with previous rental truck and towing experience.
When a Load Share is performed, the cost savings from not
needing to contract a freight tractor-trailer for the U-Box
shipment is allocated in three ways:
- A discount to the U-Haul truck rental customer's rate
- Lower one-way rates charged to all U-Box customers
- Funding newer and safer equipment, and retrofitting existing
equipment with improved safety and convenience features
The unique thing about U-Box Load Share is that it is not
intended nor designed to make U-Haul a profit. It was created to
facilitate people helping people and benefit the environment. To
date, more than 35,000 Load Shares have been completed.
Shared Use, Shared Responsibility
Allan Yang, U-Haul Chief
Sustainability Officer and Scientist, noted that awards for U-Box
Load Share underline the Company's commitment to sustainability,
decarbonization and industry-defining innovation.
"U-Haul is a shared-use business," Yang stated. "Our shared-use
products and services not only address the challenges of resource
efficiency, but also cultivate a sense of community among our
sustainability stakeholders. By pooling resources and optimizing
the towing capacity of trucks, U-Box Load Share brings forth a
paradigm shift towards sustainable and shared mobility."
Beyond U-Box Load Share, U-Haul environmentally friendly
initiatives include the Company's core model of having
communities share a moving truck or trailer rather than individuals
needing to own trucks and large-capacity vehicles to transport
their belongings; U-Haul Adaptive Reuse, a program for preserving
and repurposing existing buildings for new stores rather than
engaging in teardowns and ground-up projects with each acquisition,
thus reducing carbon emissions and the need for new-building
materials (about 70% of U-Haul-owned facilities are the result of
Adaptive Reuse); U-Haul truck modifications to incorporate a low
profile, rounded corners and advanced chassis skirts to reduce wind
drag and improve fuel economy up to 20% (in addition to fuel
economy gauges in every new-production U-Haul truck); and green
products like plastic U-Haul Ready-To-Go
Boxes® that get shared hundreds of times
before being recycled.
About U-HAUL
Founded in 1945, U-Haul is the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself
movers with more than 23,000 rental locations across all 50 states
and 10 Canadian provinces. The enhanced U-Haul app makes it easier
for customers to use U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 to access trucks
anytime through the self-dispatch and self-return options on their
smartphones through our patented Live Verify technology. Our
customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to
192,200 trucks, 138,500 trailers and 44,500 towing devices. U-Haul
is the third largest self-storage operator in North America with 967,000 rentable units and
83.3 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed
facilities. U-Haul is the top retailer of propane in the U.S. and
the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the
automotive aftermarket industry. Get the U-Haul app from
the App Store or Google
Play.
Contact:
Jeff Lockridge
E-mail: publicrelations@uhaul.com
Phone: 602-760-4941
Website: uhaul.com
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SOURCE U-Haul