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U-Haul history
U-Haul company history timeline
Since 1945, U-Haul has been the first choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of more than 21,000 locations in all 50 United States and 10 Canadian provinces.
In 1945, at the age of 29, Leonard Shoen co-founded U-Haul with his wife, Anna Mary Carty, in the town of Ridgefield, Washington, with an investment of $5,000.
The couple had six children by the time Anna Mary Shoen died in 1957, and L.S. Shoen eventually had a total of 12 children with three wives.
On July 4, 1967 the first U-Haul employee moved into the building.
In 1967, at the height of the company's success, Shoen moved his corporate headquarters to Phoenix, Arizona.
1969: Shoen incorporates American Family Corporation (AMERCO) as a Reno, Nevada-based holding company, with U-Haul the main operating company.
The first critical change arose from the founding in 1970 of Ryder System, Inc. in Miami.
1974: First company-owned U-Haul Centers are established.
1986: Ousting of Founder by Sons
Shoen transferred all but 2% of control to his children when two of them, Edward and Mark, launched a successful takeover of the business in 1986.
Joe Shoen carried on the battle, appealing the $7 million personal judgment against him for acting with malice in his 1988 dealings with family members.
1988: The new leaders fend off an attempt by the founder and his allies to regain control.
In March 1989 the company's annual meeting allegedly turned into a brawl when L.S. Shoen and his son Mike attempted to set up a tape recorder to record the proceedings.
During 1991 a corporate restructuring that eliminated and consolidated second-tier subsidiaries and cut the workforce from 18,000 to 10,900 led to income for the year of just $416,000.
In November 1994, however, a New Mexico man was sentenced to 24 years in prison for shooting Eva Shoen in a botched robbery.
Certain of the statements made on this Web site regarding our business constitute forward-looking statements contemplated under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
In 1999, 83-year-old Leonard Shoen suffered fatal injuries when he crashed into a telephone pole near his Las Vegas, Nevada, home.
In February 2002, in the wake of the Enron scandal, AMERCO's auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), told AMERCO that it had to consolidate the results of SAC Holdings with AMERCO and restate the latter's financial results for the previous seven years.
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U-Haul competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avis Budget Group | 1946 | $5.4B | 30,000 | 1,050 |
| Speedway | 1952 | $23.6B | 40,230 | 6 |
| Circle K | 1951 | $7.8B | 40,001 | 6,339 |
| Shoes For Crews | 1984 | $283.1M | 100 | 16 |
| Berry Man | 1989 | $46.0M | 110 | 1 |
| American Blinds | 1986 | $42.0M | 75 | - |
| Arizona Mail Order Co Inc | 1946 | $6.8M | 15 | - |
| ShopNational | 1952 | $6.1M | 100 | - |
| Eastbay | 1980 | $8.0B | 10,001 | 10 |
| BLAIR | 1910 | $262.8M | 1,200 | 3 |
U-Haul history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of U-Haul, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about U-Haul. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at U-Haul. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by U-Haul. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of U-Haul and its employees or that of Zippia.
U-Haul may also be known as or be related to Santa Maria Coop LLC, U Haul, U-Haul, U-Haul International Inc and U-haul International, Inc.