We all know that the ubiquitous U-Haul truck has made many cameos in movies and TV shows, but did you know that U-Haul gets mentioned a lot in books as well?
A quick search in Google Books shows almost 14,000 results for “uhaul.”
While one might think that it’s fairly obvious that U-Haul will be mentioned in some business books as the company is a good example of American entrepreneurship, the first 48 search results shows that there’s an even split between fiction and non-fiction books. Based on the first 48 search results, 3 books were published in the 1990’s, 9 during the 2000’s, and 36 in the 2010’s. The breakdown for the rest of the 13,952 books mentioning U-Haul from other decades would take a bit more time.
Taking a look at the excerpts in the books, there are some that merely mention the name U-Haul, while there are some that go into certain aspects of the business.
Here are some examples:
From “And Five Became One” by Tony Pay, 2014:
“Bryan has rented a big U-Haul trailer to pull behind his station wagon on the trip to Arizona. It is bigger then he had anticipated, which is good, because there are more items to bring than he expected. Bryan and the boys start to load the U-Haul.”
Cecelia Tishy’s “All in One Piece“, 2009, even mentions Supergraphics:
“At 12:02 pm, the U-Haul with the diving dolphins pulls out. Having unloaded the cartons, Jamie will now return to Deary Street.”
This excerpt from Herbert Iii Lawson entitled “My Life, My Story You be the Judge: A Memoir” mentions one way rentals:
“Well, now we had to get a truck from U-Haul. We knew nothing about renting a truck or moving across the country. We didn’t know we could drop it off at the U-Haul place in Los Angeles…”
“Glamping with Mary Jane: Glamour + Camping” goes as far as linking to the U-Haul website when she writes about towing capacity in this excerpt:
“When it comes to towing and weight, U-Haul is a one-stop shop. Those folks are hip to all things hitch-related, and they can offer important tips for successful towing.
Run by your local U-Haul dealer to get the lowdown on your current hitch capacity, or let them equip your vehicle with the setup that’s best suited to your trailer.
You’ll also find all sorts of helpful info at uhaul.com.”
U-Haul is definitely a household name in America. A week doesn’t go by where you don’t encounter the U-Haul brand – that is if you are looking for it. You don’t only see it on the roads but also in movies, TV shows, and even in the books that you read.
*Book cover images are sourced from amazon.com
If you’ve read about U-Haul in other books, share which ones in the comments below.
