UHaul and Penske are doing background checks on YOU!

a reply to: PorkChop96

I'd agree with you except that when he contacted the Legal Department they didn't deny it. Actually if what he stated is true, they CONFIRMED it.

a reply to: cmdrkeenkid

I'd lean towards that thinking.
Maybe there is mentioning in training to flag certain people who are on a watch list and they need to inform the FBI or something.
I'm sure they aren't going to hassle the FBI sending every drivers information to them to have a thorough background check. If you're on a "list", then I guess you deserve to be for whatever reason.

a reply to: cmdrkeenkid

When you give them your driver's license all you are agreeing to is for them to check your legal status to drive, verify your address and as it has been stated see if you are on their Do Not Rent list. That should all be spelled out in the Rental Agreement.

Simple logic can explain how there is no Federal level background checks taking place.

Firstly, the costs involved would be astronomical. According to Criminal Watch Dog a national level background check costs $25 to $45 per check. Now, Uhaul for example, doesn't publish how many trucks are rented each year, but they have said that over "two million one-way truck rentals occur annually" and that isn't including the "in-town" rentals.

So for just those two million one-way rentals you're looking at a cost of US$50M to US$90M on background checks alone. Sure, one could argue that cost would most likely be passed along to the consumer, but considering that Uhaul rentals start at roughly $20/day that doesn't appear to be the case. Even if they had a volume discount, there would be little to no profit in the majority of their moves.

Secondly, the government would need an entire division of employees (or servers) to process these background checks. Where is the budgetary line item for this division? It should be able to be found within one of the agencies stated, as they're both public. I bet you can't find it, most likely because it does not exist.

Third, and finally, is that the time involved would not allow for this. I've rented multiple times from Uhaul, Hertz, and other companies. I'm never in the office for more than a few minutes once I get to the desk. If they were truly performing a national level criminal check, it would take some time, especially considering that most criminal background checks take one to three days.

In conclusion, I have demonstrated why this is a bunch of malarkey. There is no federal level criminal background check due to the costs and time involved with the process.

a reply to: JIMC5499

That's if he was even able to get a hold of the REAL legal department at Penske. Most of the time these big companies just push you through to a "legal" department, run by a 3rd party that claim to be from (insert company name here) just to shut you up and give you the answers you want to hear.

a reply to: MrBuddy

The phone goes quiet right then and I feel I've started unraveling the string.

This is when she called her boss over and flagged your recorded conversation for future review and possible sharing with law enforcement.

a reply to: cmdrkeenkid

If it is a computerized system set up the same way as it is when you go to buy a gun it isn't that expensive. It sounds like both lists are setup to compare the of the person being checked against of a list of people who are flagged.

The background check you are talking about has to check all over the country. Those can take up to a week, that's why they cost so much. I get one every two years because I volunteer to work with students in STEM.

Rather than just reply individually, I'll sum my responses up here.

1st, many of you claim that merely by handing a business my license gives them permission to run ANY check on you. Thats absurd in its face and only makes sense if you don't think about it.

I hand my license to a cashier every time I buy a lighter, cigarettes, a Playboy, or anything else that requires an age limit by law. This doesn't mean that they can run my info through a database.

Next, some of you claim that I shouldn't rent from them if they do checks. Great. But if as a customer I'm not made aware of this up front, I haven't been given the opportunity to deny the check.

One person even claimed that they worked for Penske and they don't put GPS trackers on their vehicles.
Thats just stupid and this person obviously didn't work for them. Hell, you can go to their website where they claim their GPS tracking is only used when the vehicle isn't returned on time or has been reported stolen. Do you really feel a vehicle rental service doesn't have GPS? ALL newer vehicles from 2015 on have tracking on them straight from the dealership. Every manufacturer has their own tracking. For Chevy its On Star. Ford uses FordPass. In fact, Penske's GPS tracking information IS on the rental agreement...and in the provided news story lol.
So whomever responded with that word vomited response has zero idea about the place they claimed to once work at...which is likely the reason they don't work there anymore.

It's patently obvious NONE of you have ever been in management. If you had, you'd know that in order to do any type of governmental check of ANYONE, you MUST have their SIGNED permission. Period. Theres no way around it. No signature=major lawsuit.

The whole point of this post is not to rail against the check itself. The point is that once that check has been completed, NO OTHER PERSON OUTSIDE HR CAN KNOW ABOUT IT OR YOURE VIOLATING THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS. IT IS LAW IN ALL 50 STATES.

Let's put it this way:

Recently, parents across the U.S. we're harassed by the Justice Dept as they went to school board meetings to voice their displeasure. They were labeled as TERRORISTS...which means many are likely on some list. People that have never violated ANY law besides seeing to their child's education needs are on a LIST! Now, one of those parents rents a UHaul and suddenly the kid behind the counter thinks that parent is a Jihadist. Please tell me how thIs does anything to keep the country safe? If anything, it makes the CUSTOMER unsafe.

Furthermore, this happened exactly as described. I don't waste time posting threads otherwise. You can all make excuses and outright LIE about how that business operates...I could give less than one $%#!. I merely posted this here to pass along the information to those people that don't feel they need to be tracked by their government while they move their sister to her boyfriends house.

One last thought:

If an employee of your Primary Care shared any of your medical history, they'd violate HIPPA and your Civil Rights. They'd be fired and ultimately sued into bankruptcy.
See, in the United States we have laws against unreasonable search and seizure. It is HIGHLY UNREASONABLE to think that every customer is a potential terrorist and then relay that information throughout their office structure.
Why I even have to explain this is why I rarely post on this websirlte anymore. In the past, ATS was the place to go for this thread. Since about 2017, ATS is the last resort.
Use the information as you will. I'm not going to argue points with thumb thugs that have zero clue. Then again, I may have decided to post all of this as fiction to garner stupid flags on a site ranked as one of the lowest trafficked on the net. Yeah...exactly how I like to spend a holiday weekend ffs


One last thing. It doesnt cost $20 to rent ANY UHaul lol. By the time you're done, even the Around Town truck costs $70 for just 4 hours buddy. In fact, if you can show me ANY UHaul rental receipt with a total of $20 plus tax, i will send you a crisp $100 bill. Hell, I'll send you a thousand dollars...because not only does that comment sound stupid, it has zero basis in reality.
Your best bet is to conclude trying to 'prove' me wrong because I don't post lies or innuendo and when truth is on your side, opposers only double down on stupidity.

I agree that you would need to consent to this check in witting as part of your contractual agreement. If this is happening, it must be disclosed.

I also run a large org (~100 professionals and their managers). Any information that comes back on background that requires senior leadership approval stays with senior leadership - no one outside of HR and a hiring manager has any visibility - and outside of HR, you only have visibility on specifically the point you need to approve or decline. “Watch List” level data would never, ever make it to a lower level employee.

This reminds me of Kroger’s change to scanning your DL to purchase alcohol. Most stores either realize you have enough gray in your hair (plus children/family present) that you’re probably ok to buy a bottle of wine without showing ID, or, you just show the cashier, they check the DOB, and that’s it. I’m virtually certain Kroger is feeding information on consumption back to a government agency or selling that data to vendors - which they do not inform you of. This is something I’m going to look into.

Thanks for sharing and doing your due diligence. If more people did, lots of things would be different.

a reply to: MrBuddy

Of course they are.

They are not going to let you rent a truck if you may never bring it back, drive through people in a public event, or if there is a fear you may fill it with something bad and leave it by a building.

I am not surprised at all. I assumed this was SOP after a few "events" that have happened with large trucks like this both here and in Europe.

a reply to: VulcanWerks

Wouldn't bee too sure that Kroger's is sending info to anybody.
Within the last few years, we just started to be able to buy wine and beer at grocery and convenience stores. When I worked in advertising two of my Clients are the major players in this. Each of them has a "fake" store that they use for, layout changes, new signage, (my area) and training. I was there when they were testing their procedure for Alcohol sales. I acted as a buyer for one test. When the clerk scanned my license, their computer recorded the information off of the magnetic strip and the security camera took a photo of me at the counter. That did two things. One is that it made a record of the sale and two it verified that my Driver's license was not a forgery.

Up until last May, I was President of a small Social Club. My reason for mentioning this was that we had a younger member sign in a girl who was his date. Our bartender checked her ID and it looked good. A few days later Liquor Enforcement comes in wanting to talk to me. The girl was stopped for DUI and was under age. She told them that she had been at the club. We reviewed the security video from that night and it plainly showed the bartender checking her ID. The officer admitted that she had a pretty good false ID. That's when he told us about the scanners. We bought one. Since we were already tied into Liquor Enforcement's computer (placing orders to the State Store) it was nothing to get it up and running. One of the things that we were specifically told was that the only thing that the scanner can do is 1. Is this a valid ID? yes/no. 2. Is the person of legal drinking age? yes/no. That is all of the information that it can access.

Now, here's the curve ball. When you purchase alcohol at Kroger's do you also use one of their rewards or gas cards? If so they can tie the alcohol purchase to you because they already have your name and address.

a reply to: JIMC5499

That's great and all, but still does not address the same issues.

Using the same site I cited above, a national level instant background check is $18.95. Since the issue is with FBI/DHS that rules out the state and regional checks. That, with again just the two million one-way moves and no in-town moves, would cost Uhaul approximated US$38M annually. Again, with the rental rate starting at roughly $20/day that leaves no room for profit.

Also, you would still need employees and a system in place. Sure, they could piggyback off the NICS system (which is free for firearms purchases), but even then there would be a separate division or set of employees for car rentals. Considering that NICS is chronically understaffed and overworked I doubt they would be willing to take on the additional load of car rentals. Furthermore, that would be a misappropriation of government funds, as NICS was created for the sole purpose of enforcing the Brady Act, and not for regulating car rentals.

So, no, this is completely implausible. The employee the original poster spoke with was either wrong, lying, or misinformed. There is no evidence that Federal level background checks are being performed on car rentals. I have given plenty of evidence to the contrary.

originally posted by: MrBuddy


One person even claimed that they worked for Penske and they don't put GPS trackers on their vehicles.
Thats just stupid and this person obviously didn't work for them. Hell, you can go to their website where they claim their GPS tracking is only used when the vehicle isn't returned on time or has been reported stolen. Do you really feel a vehicle rental service doesn't have GPS? ALL newer vehicles from 2015 on have tracking on them straight from the dealership. Every manufacturer has their own tracking. For Chevy its On Star. Ford uses FordPass. In fact, Penske's GPS tracking information IS on the rental agreement...and in the provided news story lol.
So whomever responded with that word vomited response has zero idea about the place they claimed to once work at...which is likely the reason they don't work there anymore.

First of all, you have no idea why I do not work for that company anymore so you I automatically assume everything you have to say is ignorantly and uniformed.

Second of all, please make some links that show your "GPS" information on their website. The link you posted for the new article has nothing in it about any sort of GPS tracking with any of the aforementioned companies in the article, let alone Penske.

Yes, most new vehicles do have some sort of GPS whether it be On Star, Ford pass, or whatever. BUT, you have to activate all of these options, the dealer can not just turn it on and find out where you are at any time. Just because most new cars come with that feature does not mean that a rental/fleet truck does. Fleet trucks are always base model packages with manual locks, windows, and some don't even have anything beyond AM/FM radio, or cruise control. They are purchased that way to keep the cost low so they can rent them or use them for the longest time and get their money worth out of it. Penske in particular, a lot of their trucks are not much newer than 2010 with over 200K miles on them. They are low end, high mileage, turds that travel all over the country with the only tracking the company really does is by using the actual truck number assigned to it by Penske to find out where it is in the network of dealers. In the years I worked for that company, the number of stolen trucks that were never recovered, at least as long as I was aware of what was going on with the fleet I worked with, can not be counted on 2 sets of fingers. Do you really think that if they had a GPS tracking system that they would not be able to find these? On the pamphlet you are given when you rent your truck, there is directions on how to summon roadside assistance in case of a break down, including who to call, how to tell them the highway/interstate you are on and the corresponding mile marker you are at, what truck you are in, and any other useful information they require. Half of that info is not necessary if there is a GPS tracking unit in place, so why would they not use it?

Please do not comment on my life again, unless you know exactly what you are talking about. You do not know me, you don't know my life, so keep your opinions to yourself.

originally posted by: MrBuddy
I wanted to reply to your asinine response.

Aw, gee golly, mister! Thanks!

By your logic, how are gun dealers still in business?

See this post and get back to me.

Furthermore, your version of a background check is far different from the version Penske is doing.

How do you know which Federal level check they're performing? You said yourself that the person on the phone was less than forthcoming with information.

I thank God every day I'm not one of you people.

I understand. Critical thinking is scary and hard. Much easier to jump to conclusions. At least you understand and have come to terms with your limitations. Here's a medal!

a reply to: MrBuddy

I thought most large rental companies did things like this, if only to make sure that you weren't using their vehicles to do stuff like running illegals between jurisdictions, or hauling stolen property.

Where I live there was a spate of criminals gangs using those trucks used for hauling frozen food to boost motorcycles. They figured out that heat insulation also make good sound insulation, so they could boost a premium bike and nobody could hear the alarm go off as it was in the back of a truck.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

Yeah... No, not at all.



Link if embed doesn't work

a reply to: cmdrkeenkid

We're going to have to agree to disagree.
The same computer check that verifies that the renter is not on the Rental Company's "Do Not Rent" list can access a government website and check the Renter against a Government list.

That doesn't take anybody extra to do it, so the Rental Company doesn't have to add people or incur an additional expense.

Now maintaining and verifying the information of the databases that are being checked does require people and resources.

I work on some classified projects. When I get Customer Representatives coming in to review the project, I'm responsible for verifying their Clearance. This takes about two minutes on the computer. It doesn't matter if the Rep was here yesterday, when they show up today I still have to re-verify them. There's really nothing to it. Enter their information, wait for the response, print the response as a PDF file and dump it into a file on the server.

www.uhaul.com...

This has all the information I'm speaking about.
This link sates they will share your information:

"Government or private organizations responsible for the processing or handling of transportation, tolls, traffic/moving or parking related violations"

It also states:

"Your U-Haul Vehicle, Towable Equipment or U-Box Container(s) (hereinafter “U-Haul Equipment”) may be equipped with a device which collects location data of the U-Haul Equipment (“Location Detection Device”). We will only access and use the Location Detection Device in the event..."

See, with just minimal work I've rebutted the clueless wizards of smart that claim UHaul DOESN'T have tracking devices or that they share your information without your knowledge UNLESS you go into the Legal section of their website.

There's much more in that link, but I know you won't read it and don't feel the need to continue proving I'm correct. I'm always correct if I post because posting absolute nonsense is a waste of time.
I'm merely pasing this along to those of you thay still care about your Rights. Rights which are continuously stomped on by all manner of corporations and beurocracies without your consent or knowledge.

If you don't care, I don't care even less. You do you...but let me do me.

Anyone else considering the claim that I'm overreacting or outright lying is welcome to compare brain pans on the subject and get sent packing as well. Eventually, Phage will show up claiming the contract was all a trick of the light or swamp gas.
in fact, looking at the caliber of replies, I shoulda taken this to GLP. They've outpaced this dead space for years now. Sad.