With a household name like U-Haul, maintaining the lead in the trailer rental business means having a willingness to change for the better. And that is exactly what U-Haul has done by specifying all of its trailers to be hot-dip galvanized.

Supplanting paint and aluminum, hot-dip galvanizing is rugged enough to handle road hazards such as rocks and road salt . . . and the zinc coating is not only harder than steel itself, but is aesthetically appealing as well. Driven by short-term cost reduction and long-term maintenance savings, U-Haul began to specify hot-dip galvanizing for some its trailer parts in 1995. After regular consultation with the galvanizer, a unique protocol was developed to dip the entire assembled trailer into the molten zinc bath--including moving parts such as the tailgate. 

Design suggestions from the galvanizer were met with enthusiasm by U-Haul. A residual benefit was discovered when U-Haul was able to eliminate all paint specifications and the inventory required to paint and repaint the trailers. Not only is the profile of hot-dip galvanizing elevated because of the many thousands of trailers now on the road, but U-Haul has an industry partner in hot-dip galvanizing. Commented U-Haul representatives, "We now have a coating with the durability and lifetime that matches the intended expectancy of our product."