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U-Haul International, Inc. is a moving equipment and storage rental company, based in Phoenix, Arizona, that has been in operation since 1945. The company was founded by Leonard Shoen (L. S. "Sam" Shoen) in Ridgefield, Washington, who began it in the garage owned by his wife's family, and expanded through franchising with gas stations.

One of many U-Haul trucks

Overview[link]

U-Haul is owned by AMERCO, a holding company which also operates Amerco Real Estate, Republic Western Insurance, and Oxford Life Insurance.^[1] The Shoen family currently owns about 70% of the publicly-traded stock corporation. The company rents trucks, trailers, and other pieces of equipment, but many U-Haul centers and dealerships also provide storage, LPG (propane) refueling, hitch and trailer wiring installation, and carpet cleaners, among other services.

Because of the company's ubiquity (there are 13,000 active dealers across the country) the name is sometimes used as a genericized trademark to refer to the services of any rental company. The livery used on rented vehicles is widely recognized, primarily consisting of white and a thick horizontal orange stripe, in addition to a large state- or province-themed picture, known as SuperGraphics.

History[link]

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. The company was started with an investment of $5,000 from family friends Kenneth and Donald Shivers.^[2] He began building rental trailers and splitting the fees for their use with gas station owners who he franchised as agents. He developed one-way rentals and enlisted investors as partners in each trailer as methods of growth.

By 1955, there were more than 10,000 U-Haul trailers on the road and the brand was nationally known. Distracted to some extent by growing his business, Shoen nevertheless took time for multiple marriages and eventually had a total of 14 children, each of whom he made stockholders. 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. Family scrabbling over the U-Haul empire turned to physical confrontations between some of his children at company meetings, even before the 1986 takeover. The takeover sparked a major family dispute that led to a $461 million judgment in favor of Leonard Shoen and others. In 1999, 83-year-old Leonard Shoen suffered fatal injuries when he crashed into a telephone pole near his Las Vegas, Nevada home.

The Shoen family, currently led by chairman and president Edward "Joe" Shoen, owns about 40% of the company through their AMERCO holding company. AMERCO filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2003 and emerged in March 2004. The filing did not include or affect U-Haul operations.

Equipment[link]

U-haul truck being refueled on the U.S. Route 1 Bypass in Portsmouth, NH

U-Haul's rental fleet is composed of trucks, trailers, and various other equipment. Heavy duty pickup truck and van cabs manufactured by GMC and Ford are mated with U-Haul manufactured truck boxes in fabrication plants located at various places in North America. The vehicles are all gas powered, with previous models offering diesel 17-foot (5.2 m) trucks that must be brought back to the same location where they were rented. Six truck sizes are available, ranging from 10 feet (3.0 m) to 26 feet (7.9 m), and multiple trailer sizes, in addition to a two-wheeled "Tow Dolly" and a four-wheeled "Auto Transport". U-Haul advertises that their trucks have lower decks which are built below the tops rather than above the rear tires like standard cargo box trucks. Some trucks also have an over the cab storage area called "Mom's Attic." The trucks are painted with graphics of different locations across the United States and Canada. Pickup trucks and cargo vans are also available at most corporate owned centers.

U-Haul has two main classifications for equipment in its fleet. The first type of equipment is known as "In-Town" or "Rotation". These are owned by the franchise or designated to a specific store by the corporation. The other half of the fleet consists of "One-way" equipment. These are all owned by the corporation and are mostly used for one-way trips, meaning pickup and drop off at different locations. U-Haul has also launched a "Newest Trucks" campaign and have been building new one-way vehicles en-masse. As these are being built the one way fleet is being retired to local use only and previous local trucks are being de-imaged and retired to "for sale" status.

All trucks owned by the U-Haul corporation (including those assigned and decaled for use in Canada) display apportioned Arizona license plates that do not expire. Newer trailers in the U-Haul fleet have apportioned plates, registered in a variety of states. In the Alaska and Hawaii markets, U-Haul registers equipment locally because those states do not have apportioned vehicle registration systems.

Storage Space Rentals[link]

Some U-Haul rental facilities have public storage lockers available for rent on a weekly or monthly bases, and rent out portable storage lockers on a monthly base. Neither of these services are as popular as their truck and equipment rentals and there have been reports of flooding in on-location storage facilitates, resulting in property damage^[3]

Ford Explorer Ban[link]

U-Haul does not rent trailers intended to be attached to a Ford Explorer.^[4] According to U-Haul: "U-Haul has chosen not to rent behind this tow vehicle based on our history of excessive costs in defending lawsuits involving Ford Explorer towing combinations. This policy does not involve safety issues. This is an unusual circumstance for U-Haul." This applies to all production years and models (for example, this ban includes the Ford Explorer Sport Trac) of the Explorer, regardless of tire brand that is attached. This comes from many accidents involving Bridgestone or Firestone tires. This ban does not apply to related vehicles such as the Mercury Mountaineer, Lincoln Aviator, or Mazda Navajo despite that are all mechanically identical to the Ford Explorer.

A U-Haul truck on the Coquihalla Highway in British Columbia.

Safety issues[link]

In Canada, various news agencies have found serious safety problems on U-Haul equipment. In July 2005, the Toronto Star reported statistics suggesting that about half of U-Haul vehicles in Ontario were not road-safe.^[5] Shortly afterward, the Ministry of Transportation (Ontario) reported that, of 296 U-Haul vehicles inspected in the summer of 2005 (43.5% of all inspections performed), 58 (19.6%) were found to have out-of-service defects, meaning that they are not road worthy.^[6] CTV followed in October 2005, conducting their own inspections across the country, and finding that all 13 rented U-Haul trucks failed to meet basic provincial safety standards.^[7]

Replying to the Toronto Star, the company's Canadian officials cited its inspection policies and procedures that employees and dealers are expected to follow. In response to the CTV results, Canadian U-Haul vice-president admitted to not heeding earlier warnings to improve their vehicles' safety conditions, and said older trucks would be replaced.

In October 2006 CTV W-Five re-investigated U-Haul by renting trucks from 9 locations across Canada. The rentals were then taken to mechanics for an inspection. Of the 9 trucks rented, 7 failed basic safety standards and were not deemed roadworthy; the other 2, while roadworthy, had minor problems.^[8]

On June 24, 2007, the Los Angeles Times published a story on U-Haul's safety problems titled "Driving With Rented Risks".^[9] There were also related articles published such as "Upkeep Lags In U-Haul's Aging Fleet"^[10] and "Key Trial Evidence Goes Missing".^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Packing & Moving Household Goods

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: U-Haul

• Official website
• Fitzpatrick, Tom (1 December 1994). "The U-Haul Tragedy". Phoenix New Times (Phoenix, AZ). http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1994-12-01/news/the-u-haul-tragedy/. Retrieved 15 January 2011. 

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2008)

Angie Stone
Angie Stone at Berns, Stockholm
Background information
Birth name	Angela Laverne Brown
Born	(1961-12-18) December 18, 1961 (age 50)[citation needed] Columbia, South Carolina, United States
Genres	R&B, soul, neo soul
Occupations	singer-songwriter, record producer, actress
Instruments	Singing, keyboards
Years active	1979–present
Labels	Arista, J, Stax
Associated acts	The Sequence, Vertical Hold, Mantronix, Devox, Joss Stone, Anthony Hamilton
Website	www.angiestoneonline.net

Angie Stone performing live at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on July 11, 2008

Angie Stone (born Angela Laverne Brown on December 18, 1961) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. She has been most successful on the R&B charts, with four Top 10 albums, including a number one album, and ten singles, including a Top 10. She has sold over 1.4 millions albums in the U.S. and over 5 millions albums worldwide.

Biography[link]

Stone was born in Columbia, South Carolina, where she began singing gospel music at First Nazareth Baptist Church, under the leadership of Reverend Blakely N. Scott.

She has a daughter and son. Her daughter Diamond (born 1984) is from her marriage to Rodney Stone (also known as Lil' Rodney C!, from the hip hop group Funky Four Plus One). Diamond contributed background vocals to her 2007 song "Baby",^[1] and gave birth to Stone's grandson in 2008. During the 1990s Stone dated neo soul singer D'Angelo. Their son Michael was born in 1998. Stone lives in Atlanta, Georgia with Michael and fiancé Ashanti, an airline auditor who has two children of his own.^[2]

Musical career[link]

In the early 1980s, Stone (then known as Angie B.) was a member of The Sequence, a female hip hop/funk trio consisting of Cheryl The Pearl and Blondie. They were the second rap group signed to the Sugar Hill Record Label after auditioning for Sylvia Robinson backstage at a Sugar Hill Gang concert in South Carolina. They had a hit in 1980 with "Funk You Up", which reached number fifteen on the U.S. Top Black Singles chart, and a minor hit with "Monster Jam" featuring rapper Spoonie Gee. The Sequence enjoyed a series of rap hits as the first female rap group during the early years of Hip Hop. Such hits as "Funky Sound (Tear The Roof Off)" kept The Sequence touring with many of the Soul Bands of the day. She then worked with Mantronix, before singing background on Lenny Kravitz's fifth studio album, 5. The Sequence faded into obscurity as Hip Hop changed from its original party sound to a more gritty street art form.

Stone emerged during the 1990s as part of the R&B trio Vertical Hold which released the popular single "Seems You're Much Too Busy" as well as two albums: A Matter of Time (1993) and Head First (1995).

In 1996, she teamed up with Gerry DeVeaux (Lenny Kravitz's cousin) and together with Charlie Mole they formed Devox. They recorded one album, Devox Featuring Angie B. Stone. Released in Japan by Toshiba EMI and selected cuts featured on Gerry DeVeaux's Front Of The line via the UK Expansion Records, which also included Stone-penned material.

Stone shared songwriting credits on D'Angelo's first two studio albums, Brown Sugar (1995) and Voodoo (2000), as well as providing backing vocals on tour with him.

Her solo debut album, Black Diamond, was released on September 28, 1999 on Arista Records; the album would eventually be certified gold by the RIAA. She has since also released, on Clive Davis' J Records, Mahogany Soul on October 16, 2001 (which also went gold), and Stone Love on July 6, 2004.

Much of Stone's solo material has significant soul influences and features notable samples. For example, her first solo single, "No More Rain (In This Cloud)" samples Gladys Knight & the Pips' 1972 song "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)", while "Wish I Didn't Miss You" samples The O'Jays' 1972 song "Back Stabbers".

Stone sings the theme song for the UPN/The CW's sitcom Girlfriends.

During an interview to BBC 1Xtra on August 27, 2006, Stone announced that she had signed to the reworked Stax Records. Her fourth studio album |- The Art of Love & War was released on October 15, 2007. The lead single is "Baby" and features Betty Wright. Its music video features cameo appearances by comedian Mike Epps and America's Next Top Model, Cycle 3 winner Eva Pigford. The song was nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

Angie released her fifth studio album titled "Unexpected" in the UK on February 8, 2010 on Stax Records. Speaking to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul in January 2010, she explained her ideas behind 'Unexpected': "Being as I've delivered four decent albums already, I felt it was safe to switch up and do something different this time. And musically overall I just wanted to have FUN! I wanted to do something that embodied a jam kinda feel, so that we could have some fun in concert and show people everything doesn't always have to be so serious."^[3]

Tours[link]

Stone recently finished a stand-up theatre play tour entitled Issues: We've Got Them All in which she had a leading role. She appeared on the VH1's reality television series Celebrity Fit Club for the fourth season, which began on August 6, 2006. While on the show, Stone lost eighteen pounds, the second lowest loss in the history of the show.

Stone has had various Summer Festival dates lined up across America and also three headlining American shows in June and another two in the Netherlands in August.

Stone toured with Sisters in the Spirit in 2007; toured in Europe in May/June 2008; toured on various Summer Festivals in the U.S. in summer 2008 (including three headlining June shows); and two in the Netherlands in August 2008.

Discography[link]

Studio Albums

• 1999: Black Diamond
• 2001: Mahogany Soul
• 2004: Stone Love
• 2007: The Art of Love & War
• 2009: Unexpected

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

Television[link]

Theatre[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Wins[link]

• 2000 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards: Best R&B/Soul Single, Solo for "No More Rain (In This Cloud)"
• 2000 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards: Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, Solo
• 2004 Edison Award for Stone Love

Nominations[link]

• 2003 Grammy Awards: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "More Than a Woman" (with Joe)
• 2004 Grammy Awards: Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "U-Haul"
• 2008 Grammy Awards: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Baby" (with Betty Wright)
• 2008 BET Awards: BET J Award
• 2008 BET J Virtual Awards: Album of the Year for The Art of Love & War

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Angie Stone

• Official website
• Angie Stone at Allmusic
• Angie Stone at the Internet Movie Database