U-Haul 2005 Annual Report Download - page 16

15 I AMERCO ANNUAL REPORT
Business Description
We฀are฀North฀America’s฀largest฀“do-it-yourself”฀moving฀
and฀ storage฀ operator฀ through฀ our฀ subsidiary฀ U-Haul฀
International,฀ Inc.฀ U-Haul฀ is฀ synonymous฀ with฀ “do-it-
yourself”฀moving฀and฀storage฀and฀is฀a฀leader฀in฀supplying฀
products฀and฀services฀to฀help฀people฀move฀and฀store฀their฀
household฀ and฀ commercial฀ goods.฀ Our฀ primary฀ service฀
objective฀is฀to฀provide฀the฀best฀product฀and฀service฀to฀the฀
most฀people฀at฀the฀lowest฀cost.
We฀rent฀our฀distinctive฀orange฀U-Haul฀trucks฀and฀trailers฀
as฀well฀as฀offer฀self-storage฀rooms฀through฀a฀network฀of฀
over฀1,350฀company฀operated฀ retail฀moving฀centers฀and฀
14,071฀independent฀U-Haul฀dealers.฀In฀addition,฀we฀have฀
an฀independent฀storage฀facility฀network฀with฀1,717฀active฀
affiliates.฀ We฀ also฀ sell฀ U-Haul฀ brand฀ boxes,฀ tape฀ and฀
other฀ moving฀ and฀ self฀ storage฀ products฀ and฀ services฀ to฀
“do-it-yourself”฀ moving฀ and฀ storage฀ customers฀ at฀ all฀ of฀
our฀distribution฀outlets฀and฀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฀equipment฀rentals,฀self฀storage฀rooms฀and฀related฀
moving฀ and฀ storage฀ products฀ and฀ services฀ provide฀ our฀
customers฀with฀convenient฀“one-stop”฀shopping.
Through฀ Republic฀ Western฀ Insurance฀ Company฀
(“RepWest”),฀ our฀ property฀ and฀ casualty฀ insurance฀
subsidiary,฀we฀manage฀the฀property,฀liability฀and฀related฀
insurance฀ claims฀ processing฀ for฀ U-Haul.฀ Oxford,฀ our฀
life฀ insurance฀ subsidiary,฀ sells฀ life฀ insurance,฀ provides฀
annuities฀ and฀ other฀ related฀ products฀ to฀ non฀ U-Haul฀
customers฀and฀manages฀the฀employee฀medical฀plans฀for฀
U-Haul’s฀18,300฀employees.
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.฀
U-Haul’s฀Internet฀address฀is฀uhaul.com.฀On฀AMERCO’s฀
investor฀ relations฀ web฀ site,฀ amerco.com,฀ we฀ post฀ the฀
following฀filings฀as฀soon฀as฀is฀reasonably฀practical฀after฀
they฀ are฀ electronically฀ filed฀ 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฀ meeting฀ of฀ stockholders,฀ and฀
any฀ amendments฀ to฀ those฀ reports฀ or฀ statements฀ filed฀
or฀ furnished฀ pursuant฀ to฀ Section฀ 13(a)฀ or฀ 15(d)฀ of฀ the฀
Securities฀Exchange฀Act฀of฀1934.฀All฀such฀filings฀on฀our฀
web฀site฀are฀available฀free฀of฀charge.
Products and Rental Equipment
Our฀ customers฀ are฀ primarily฀“do-it-yourself”฀household฀
movers.฀ U-Haul฀ moving฀ equipment฀ is฀ specifically฀
designed,฀ engineered฀ and฀ manufactured฀ for฀ the฀ “do-it-
yourself”฀household฀mover.฀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฀who฀need฀to฀transport฀materials.
As฀ of฀ March฀ 31,฀ 2005,฀ our฀ rental฀ fleet฀ consisted฀ of฀
approximately฀93,000฀trucks,฀78,750฀trailers฀and฀36,100฀
tow฀ devices.฀ This฀ equipment฀ and฀ our฀ U-Haul฀ brand฀ of฀
self-moving฀products฀and฀services฀are฀available฀through฀
our฀ network฀ of฀ managed฀ retail฀ moving฀ centers฀ and฀
independent฀U-Haul฀dealers.฀Independent฀U-Haul฀dealers฀
receive฀ rental฀ equipment฀ from฀ the฀ company,฀ act฀ as฀ a฀
rental฀ agent฀ 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฀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฀
DeckSM,฀ 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฀belongings.฀Our฀Gentle฀Ride฀SuspensionSM฀helps฀our฀
customers฀ safely฀ move฀ delicate฀ and฀ prized฀ possessions.฀
Also,฀ the฀ engineers฀ at฀ our฀ U-Haul฀ Technical฀ Center฀
determined฀that฀the฀softest฀ride฀in฀our฀trucks฀was฀at฀the฀
front฀of฀the฀van฀box.฀Consequently,฀they฀designed฀the฀part฀
of฀the฀van฀box฀that฀hangs฀over฀the฀front฀cab฀of฀the฀truck฀ to฀
be฀the฀location฀for฀our฀customers฀to฀place฀their฀most฀fragile฀
items฀during฀their฀move.฀We฀call฀this฀area฀“Mom’s฀AtticSM”.
Our฀distinctive฀ orange฀trailers฀are฀also฀manufactured฀at฀
these฀same฀U-Haul฀operated฀manufacturing฀and฀assembly฀
facilities.฀These฀trailers฀are฀well฀suited฀to฀the฀low฀profile฀
of฀many฀of฀today’s฀newly฀manufactured฀automobiles.฀Our฀
engineering฀ staff฀ is฀ committed฀ to฀ making฀ our฀ trailers฀
easy฀to฀tow,฀aerodynamic฀and฀fuel฀efficient.