Penske Truck Rental and The Home Depot are planning to expand their truck rental pilot program, which was launched last year. Under the current pilot, 19 Home Depot stores, in Miami, Fla.; Richmond, Va. and Atlanta, Ga., are offering Penske's rental trucks. Plans call for the program to expand to 400 U.S. stores by this fall, for further evaluation by the partners. The idea is to offer do-it-yourself consumers convenient locations for truck rentals, along with a full range of home products carried by the retail stores. Under the pilot program, DIY consumers can pick up and drop off Penske's moving trucks at participating Home Depot locations, as well as those within Penske's existing network of truck rental agents and company-operated locations. Penske continues to handle advance truck-rental reservations online and from its central reservations call center as well. Penske and The Home Depot said they will jointly announce additional new markets prior to entry.
