Ever notice how a chain business might move into a city and set up shop, well, all over the place? Even though the marketing strategy to have two of the same coffee shops, each on opposite corners of an intersection, can be explained that people don’t want to make a left hand turn, so having kitty-corner coffee shops means you can get to one or the other with just a right turn. Choice is good, and instead of chain businesses in view of each other, it should be more important for each business to set up a shop based on location, location, location.
U-Haul understands the importance of location and works with cities to have enough (properly placed) Centers and dealerships to serve a community in the most sustainable way. The U-Haul Neighborhood Dealership program is set up to ensure locations are strategically spread out within in a city. This strategy ensures most customers will travel fewer miles during an in-town move. Fewer miles results in lower fuel costs for the customer, less traffic congestion in the city streets, and fewer CO2 emissions in the air. The uhaul.com website states that ‘every mile closer eliminates 12 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions’.
Often, moving is a stressful, time-consuming necessity. On average, people move 11.7 times in their lifetime, a statistic found on www.census.gov. Making these moves easier is an integral part of good Customer Service. And good Customer Service isn’t just within the store renting moving equipment, and it isn’t just during the moving process, and it isn’t just the afterwards during rental return. Good customer service can start when U-Haul chooses where to place a new business.
U-Haul’s commitment has been to “conduct business in a socially responsible and ethical manner to protect the environment and benefit the communities where we live and serve.” U-Haul is continuing to expand our knowledge and understanding of social and environmental issues that affect and are affected by our operations, to integrating that knowledge into how we do business, and to continually improve our performance in this area. U-Haul understands that how carefully we utilize the resources, tools, equipment and facilities we have today determines our tomorrow.
