Rental Regrets

Every holiday weekend the Ontario Provincial Police initiate a safety blitz. They blanket the major highways between civilization and cottage country and troll for idiot drivers and unsafe vehicles. Aside from writing piles of tickets and pulling piles of unsafe vehicles these blitzes yield some spectacular examples of idiocy. Such greats as one driver who had a sign in the back window of his car that read, "For sale, needs brakes." Apparently the advertisement accurately represented the product in question.

What this blitz did for me was to reinforce something I already knew. In my checkered past I have performed varied job functions, and in that time I had one that required the use of many rental vans and trailers. From lumber and sheeting to sewage encrusted waste and scrap, we had need to haul all manner of stuff, preferring to use other people's vehicles for obvious reasons. Our company, through trial and error, had determined the right and wrong companies from whom to rent these unfortunate necessities. While we had a few companies that we could use as options, there was one outfit that we were informed was considered to be off limits unless all other options had been exhausted. These orange, white and silver monstrosities were used as a last resort and typically left us stranded almost every time.

These U-Bawls as we came to know them were always in a pretty sorry state and during this blitz they were true to their reputation. Out of 15 U-Bawl rental vehicles, 11 were not up to standard according to the OPP. An officer said "They continue to be over-represented (with safety violations) and we have no similar problems with any other rental companies," Even a Toronto newspaper investigation last month found half of U-Bawl vehicles failed roadside safety inspections.

I initially thought this was a problem unique to the Niagara area as that was where we were renting them from. From failed brakes and doors that wouldn't close to gaping holes in the sides of these units, there isn't a lot of vehicular trauma I haven't seen. This was proven to be a false assumption after a drive out west. The wife and I were going west to a wedding and decided to drive to enjoy the scenery. Along our trip through the scenic Canadian Shield in northern Ontario we enjoyed the beauty of nature. We also marveled at the number of these rental beasts that dotted the roadside. In a one hour stretch we counted 13 individual units at the side of the road. At first we thought they may have been enjoying the splendor of the view and majesty of our fair country. Upon closer inspection we realized that one does not marvel at the beauty of nature by placing their head under a vehicles hood and screaming expletives at it. Nor do they worship the beauty of nature by kicking the crap out of tires and screaming at them while their wives look like someone has stolen their children.

I was thinking that over the years they had reformed their act as people couldn't keep supporting an organization with obvious disregard for their customers. The more I think about this the more I realize that is false, people still shop at Future Shock and Wally-Mart don't they? This false assumption was proven to be dead wrong when reading Martini's blog about his moving day adventures over at DMC & Me with his U-Hood. If you ever wanted adventure and excitement I can honestly say that renting one of these bad boys will definitely put some excitement in your day. Unless you get one of the 30% of them that seem to be fit for use.

Rent at your own peril folks, just remember the approach I take. I wouldn't loan a vehicle that I owned out to most of the customers that rent them, so to drive one that many of these people have had access to before me really freaks me out. It's comforting to know that when you pick up a vehicle or trailer in one place, and leave it at your destination you are also shipping the blame for its maintenance along with the unit.