said by thegeek:The difference is with U-Haul they upsell you on everything at the counter when you go to pick up the truck.
Having worked at U-haul for a period of time, I can assure you the truck size recommendations are based on the corporate office documents, not "how can we screw the customer". As is the case with most corporate-managed businesses, the retail locations were more or less forced to speak that which corp dictated, regardless of our own thoughts & opinions (lest ye be terminated). It is reasonable to expect that a person who is forced to rent a U-haul (or one of its competitors) won't be well-versed on proper loading. The sizes are based on square footage loading capacity.
I will also admit I hated corporate - so take it for what its worth.
Edit to add:
For what its worth, I don't recall ever recommending or forcing anyone to upgrade their truck and we only had one (in the time I worked there) come back wanting to go from a 17' to 24'. I can say the same of my coworkers while I was there. YMMV as always.