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Owning or leasing a pickup truck can be expensive; if you only need a truck for a few projects a year, it might make financial sense to just rent one. You have several distinct truck rental options: You can rent a pickup truck from a regular car rental place or their specialty truck branch. You can also rent a pickup truck by the hour from a store such as Home Depot. Finally, you can rent a truck by the mile from a moving service such as U-Haul.

How much is a full-size pickup truck rental?

The price of renting a pickup truck from a regular car rental company varies by location and demand. You’ll probably pay more for your pickup truck than a premium car, but less than for some SUVs. But many of these rentals include unlimited miles.

White heavy-duty pickup truck with a stake-side bed.
Heavy-Duty Chevrolety Enterprise Truck | Enterprise

Companies that offer rental cars include Enterprise, Avis, Budget, National, and Hertz. Many of these companies also offer pickup trucks at some of their locations. Truck options range from midsize Ford Rangers to full-size Silverados or F-150s.

How much you’ll pay for a rental vehicle depends on the vehicle, the location, your age, and how long you’re renting it. Most of these companies are vacation-oriented and offer a discount for a weeklong rental. For example, if a light-duty truck runs $66/day, you can get it for $396/week.

The folks over at Movers.com compared several rental truck options. They point out that though regular rental companies may cost more upfront than other rental options on this list, they may include unlimited mileage and fewer time constraints than the other options. You can also return one of these trucks to one of several nearby locations.

Enterprise is one company that offers an entire truck rental branch. Enterprise options include heavy-duty pickup trucks, box trucks, even stake-side flatbeds. These trucks offer a higher payload capacity and a trailer hitch that you might not get with light-duty trucks rented from the regular branch.

How much is a pickup truck rental from Home Depot or Lowes?

Home Depot and Lowes both know that they can sell you more building supplies if they help you get them back to your house. Both advertise rental trucks with a $19 starting price. But this service is really designed to grab the truck, take your purchases home, then return it immediately. Otherwise, additional costs add up quickly.

Ford Transit flatbed truck with Home Depot badges on its doors.
Ford Transit Home Depot Truck | Home Depot

Lowes offers a fleet of Chevrolet Silverados to its home-improvement-enthusiast customers. $19 gets you 90 minutes of rental time.

The rental includes loading your purchases, taking them home, unloading them, gassing up, and hurrying back to the story. That’s not much time, but Lowe’s day rate is just $89, not much more expensive than one of the rental companies listed above.

Home Depot offers a wider variety of vehicles. You can get 75 minutes with a pickup or cargo van for $19. Afterward, some locations may charge you $5/15 minutes. Others will bump you right to the $139 day rate. That’s more expensive than some pickup truck rentals you’ll find from rental car companies.

How much is a truck rental from U-Haul, Ryder, or Pensky?

If you just need to tow a trailer, a cargo truck from any moving truck rental company may get the job done. Many of these companies also rent trailers. In addition, U-Haul offers pickup truck rentals. U-Haul charges a $19.95/day flat rate, plus 0.88 cents/mile.

U-Haul truck on a winding mountain road.
Dodge Ram U-Haul Truck | U-Haul

A U-Haul rental is another great truck option, especially for short trips. While Home Depot and Lowes charge by the minute, U-Haul charges by the mile. Even better, if you need a trailer for a car or motorcycle or just a hitch, you can rent that from U-Haul too.

The $19.95/day rate gets you a 10′ moving truck, cargo van, or pickup truck. $29.99 bumps you up to a 15′ truck.

Budget rental–like the name implies–offers discount moving trucks. Penske, on the other hand, offers premium vehicles at premium prices. Ryder offers great deals, even long term, but only to business owners.

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