Ryder Truck Rental Review

Ryder is a popular name among movers, but in early 2020 Ryder switched to only commercial truck options, so if you are a residential customer looking for a moving company for your move, then Ryder is not for you. If you need an extra fleet vehicle or need to move your business, then check out our review of Ryder rental trucks.

Ryder Rental Trucks

Ryder has a lot of vehicles and trailers for your business. Included are the rates from one of the Houston, Texas locations. Those are subject to change. Let's go over their vehicles:

Van Rentals

Ryder offers Sprinter Vans (also called a cargo van or a panel van) to rent for your business needs. The cab has a pass-through with lots of space in the back for any cargo need you may have.

Here are some important features the Sprinter Van has:

• 547 cubic feet of cargo space
• 3,005-pound capacity
• Gross vehicle weight of 8,550 pounds
• Up to 25 MPG

Truck Rentals

Ryder offers quite a few trucks to rent, so let’s go over them:

Box Truck

Their box truck is a 16’ cab-over truck that makes maneuvering and driving much easier. This truck is meant for city driving, meaning that it is meant to take tighter turns and you can park it easier. Of course, with a 16’ truck bed you have lots of cargo space.

• Here are some important features:
• 960 cubic feet of cargo space
• 6,000-pound capacity
• Has a hydraulic liftgate
• The engine is a turbocharged diesel

Refrigerated Box Truck

This truck is a reefer refrigerated box truck and is very similar to the box truck above. This truck is refrigerated, so you can keep whatever perishables you have in here without the need to worry about them spoiling.

• Here are some features about the refrigerated box truck:
• It is a 16’ cab-over truck
• It has a 7,000-pound capacity
• The doors and interior of the truck are insulated
• The liftgate is hydraulic
• The reefer unit on this vehicle costs an extra $1.50

Refrigerated Truck

These trucks will differ from the refrigerated box truck in that the refrigerated trucks range in size from 22’ and 26’ and are typically more medium-duty trucks than light-duty trucks (like the truck above). The trucks still have maneuverability because of a cab-over design.

Here are the features:

• Two available trucks: 22’ and 26’
• There are 1,600 cubic feet of cargo space
• The 22’ truck has a 7,000-pound capacity
• The 26’ truck has a 13,000-pound capacity
• Both trucks have a large range that the refrigeration unit can be set to
• Both trucks also have a track for securing the loads

Straight Truck

A straight truck is going to be your typical 26’ box truck designed for medium or light duty. It has a cab-over design and is typically easy to load due to hydraulic lifts. These trucks have built-in cargo-protection designed to protect your cargo and the truck from things like forklifts, and securing your load is easy with E-track cargo secure points.

Here are some features of the straight truck:

• The truck comes with either a Cummins B6.7 or a Detroit DD5
• The truck’s body is reinforced for forklift loading
• 1,600 cubic feet of cargo space
• 15,000-pound capacity

Stake Truck

A stake bed truck is your typical landscaping truck with removable stakes with a hydraulic lift. The lift makes unloading and loading easy (and far superior to other stake bed trucks). The stake bed truck comes in 16’ and 24 '.

Some features of this truck are:

• The 16’ has a gross vehicle weight of 26,000 pounds and a capacity of 7,600 pounds
• The 24’ has a gross vehicle weight of 33,000 pounds and a capacity of 14,500 pounds
• The engine options are either a Detroit DD5 or a Cummins B6.7
• The stakes are removable for easy loading and unloading

Tractor Rentals

These rentals will be your typical semi-trailer truck (or big-rig truck). Let's go over the options Ryder offers:

Single Axle Semi Truck

This truck is a single axle vehicle that is good for city deliveries. It is a heavy-duty vehicle, so you don’t need to worry about its capabilities.

Here are some features:

• 65,000 GCW (gross combined weight)
• Motorized mirrors
• Driver seat has air-suspension

Tandem Axle Semi Truck

This truck is designed to go farther than the single axle truck, it has larger gas tanks as well as air ride suspension to make the ride as comfortable as possible.

Here are some features:

• The engine has air fairings
• 80,000 gross combined weight
• Custom designed driver seat

Sleeper Tractor

This truck is built for the long-haul heavy-duty vehicle that can do just about anything you need it to. It is very fuel-efficient and is built for longer hauls. Most of these vehicles are SmartWay certified, meaning that they are efficient and are deemed sustainable by a partnership with SmartWay.

Here are some features of the Sleeper Tractor:

• Aerodynamic for fuel efficiency and power
• 80,000 gross combined weight
• Custom driver seat designed for comfort
• Double bunk sleeper
• Extra-large fuel tanks

Trailer Rentals

Ryder also offers trailers to hook onto the tractors they offer. Let's check those out:

Flatbed Trailer

This trailer is a flatbed trailer, so you can haul larger loads with this trailer.

Here are some features of the flatbed trailer:

• They offer two different flatbeds- 45’ x 96" and 48’ x 102”
• The gross vehicle weight is 73,000 pounds
• The trailer is constructed of aluminum and steel, keeping the trailer light but strong

Refrigerated Trailer

This trailer well-suited for hauling perishable and temperature-sensitive items. The trailer itself is very heavy-duty and is insulated, so you can control the temperature even more.

Here are some features:

• Lengths offered are- 28’, 45’, 48’, and 58’
• The different widths are 96” and 102”
• The interior height of the trailer goes up to 110”
• The gross vehicle weight is 65,000
• It features 3-inch insulation

Dry Van Trailer

The final trailer offered is the dry van trailer. This is the typical box trailer you might see on tractor-trailers and will keep your load secure. The trailer features air-ride suspension so your ride will be comfortable, and it offers additional protection for your cargo.

Here are some features of the Dry Van Trailer:

• The length is 53’
• The width is 102”
• The interior height of the trailer is 110”
• The gross vehicle weight is 65,000
• It has a tire pressure monitoring system
• Many trainers are CARB compliant
• Meaning they are aerodynamic and save fuel for California

Our Quotes with Ryder

While we don't have a commercial account with Ryder, we did investigate getting a vehicle through them. Luckily, we didn’t have to log in to an account for prices to look at the vehicles available at our local Houston Ryder location. For our quote, we gave the dates of Monday, December 7 through Friday, December 11, with the idea of either moving a business location or borrowing a vehicle for a fleet.

For the sake of learning more about the options Ryder offered, we added a Stake Truck to the order. We were then directed to an insurance page where three different insurance options were presented. They were:

• Damage Coverage
  • Physical damage premium- protects you against damage (or loss) to the rental vehicle subject to a $1,000 deductible
    • $24.00 a day
  • Physical damage basic- protects you against damage or loss to the rental vehicle subject to a $2,500 deductible
    • $23.00 a day
• Liability Coverage Selection
  • Liability Premium- Gives you liability insurance of $1,000,000 while you are using the rental truck
    • $36.00 a day

We chose the physical damage premium, as well as the liability premium just in case. So, with our pick-up date being December 7, and drop-off date being December 11, and with the two insurance options we chose, our final total came out to $891.80. The charges broke down to: ($162.95 x 4 for daily charge of the vehicle) + ($24 x 4 for daily insurance charge) + ($36 x 4 for daily liability charge). Keep in mind, this is not including mileage.

Our Thoughts

Overall, Ryder’s prices seem pretty affordable. Where we can foresee the charges racking up is if you rent a tractor and a trailer for a long-haul delivery. For that, you have to pay per unit (so for a tractor and a trailer), plus the mileage for each, on top of the fuel, and you have to make a round trip to return the vehicles to that original store. However, if that is what you need then you do what you have to do.