Penske Truck Rental

Reviews

• SM

  Sara M

  Oct 16, 2025
  1.0
  I chose to rent a Penske truck after reading positive reviews about people handling their own out-of-state moves by driving a rental and hiring movers at each end. I initially reserved a 22' truck, but Penske offered me a 26' truck as a "free upgrade" since they didn’t have the 22' available. I accepted, not realizing at the time that the 26' is the largest truck you can legally drive without a commercial driver’s license (CDL). In hindsight, I should have stuck with the 22', as the 26' truck was difficult to maneuver—especially in and out of the alley behind my new home. However, the main reason for my 1-star review is what happened at pickup. Alexandria, the employee on duty, took an unusually long time to complete her inspection of the truck— it took us 1 hour and 15 minutes from the time we arrived until we left, despite us being first in line. During her inspection of the truck on the lot, my friend and I watched her sit in the truck with the engine idling for a long time. It appeared she was pumping or priming the brakes repeatedly, and at one point, she also appeared to make a phone call. When I asked if there was anything wrong, or anything I needed to know about operating the truck, she only emphasized the parking brake and how it needed to be engaged and released every time. On the drive home, the truck continuously emitted two warning beeps: one from the lane-keep assist system, and the other indicating that one of the air brake tanks was under 50 PSI (it should be above 100). I also noticed a repeated air-hiss sound while driving. My friend and I inspected the vehicle and quickly found that one of the air tanks was losing pressure, causing the alert. Outside the truck, we found a visible crack in the line and could feel air discharging when we held our hand near it. This issue required emergency roadside assistance. (Shoutout to Zach, who was fantastic—he should be the one responsible for inspecting vehicles this large before they go out to non-commercial drivers.) The brake problem caused a five-hour delay for my moving team—thankfully, they were flexible—and it significantly increased my stress about driving such a large vehicle safely. Overall, I don’t believe Alexandria had the knowledge or training necessary to properly inspect a vehicle of this size or to ensure it was safe for a layperson to drive. The brake system issue was serious and should have been caught during inspection. Her lack of communication and oversight created unnecessary risk and significant disruption to my move.

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