U-Haul 2004 Annual Report Download - page 7

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PART I
Item 1. Business
Company Overview
We are North America's largest ""do-it-yourself'' moving and storage provider, supplying products and
services to help people move and store their household and commercial goods. U-Haul is synonymous with
""do-it-yourself'' moving and storage and our strategy is to maintain our leadership position.
Through a network of 1,351 U-Haul operated retail centers and 13,870 independent U-Haul dealers, we
rent our distinctive orange and white U-Haul trucks and trailers and storage rooms and we sell U-Haul brand
boxes, tape and other moving and self storage related products and services. We also connect independent
providers of moving and self storage services, with ""do-it-yourself'' moving and storage customers through our
eMove web site.
U-Haul is the most convenient supplier of products and services meeting the needs of North America's
""do-it-yourself'' moving and storage market. Our broad geographic coverage throughout the United States and
Canada and our extensive selection of U-Haul brand moving and self storage related products and services
provide our customers with ""one-stop'' shopping convenience.
We were founded in 1945 under the name ""U-Haul Trailer Rental Company''. Since 1945 we have
rented trailers. Starting in 1959, we rented trucks on a one-way and In-Town basis exclusively through
independent U-Haul dealers. Since 1974, we have developed a network of U-Haul managed retail centers,
through which we rent our trucks and trailers and sell moving and self-storage related supplies and services, to
complement our independent dealer network.
AMERCO and U-Haul are each incorporated in Nevada. Our Internet address is uhaul.com. On our
investor relations web site is amerco.com. We post the following Ñlings as soon as is reasonably practical after
they are electronically Ñled with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission: our annual report
on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our current reports on Form 8-K, our proxy statement
related to our annual stockholders' meeting, and any amendments to those reports or statements Ñled or
furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All such Ñlings on our
web site are available free of charge.
Products and Rental Equipment
U-Haul rental equipment is speciÑcally designed, engineered and manufactured for the ""do-it-yourself''
household mover. Our Primary Service Objective is to provide a better and better product and service to more
and more people at a lower and lower cost.
Our customers are ""do-it-yourself'' household movers. These ""do-it-yourself'' movers include individuals
and families moving their belongings from one home to another, college students moving their belongings,
vacationers and sports enthusiasts needing extra space or having special towing needs, people trying to save on
home furniture and home appliance delivery costs, and ""do-it-yourself'' home remodeling and gardening
enthusiasts that need extra room to transport materials.
As of March 31, 2004, our distinctive orange and white rental Öeet consisted of approximately 92,000
trucks, 73,000 trailers and 33,000 tow devices. This equipment and our U-Haul brand self-moving and self-
storage products and services are distributed through a network of 1,351 U-Haul operated retail centers and
13,870 independent U-Haul dealers. Independent U-Haul dealers receive U-Haul rental equipment on a
consignment basis and are paid a commission based on gross revenues generated from their U-Haul rentals.
Our rental truck chassis are manufactured by domestic and foreign truck manufacturers. These chassis
are joined with the distinctive orange and white U-Haul designed and manufactured van boxes at U-Haul
operated manufacturing and assembly facilities strategically located throughout the United States. U-Haul
rental trucks feature our proprietary Lowest Deck
SM
, which provides our customers with extra ease of loading.
The loading ramps on our trucks are the widest in the industry which reduce the time needed to move
2