With universities closing campuses and moving to online classes amid the coronavirus outbreak, students across the country are scrambling to find ways to get their stuff home. U-Haul is trying to help by offering free storage for up to 30 days.
According to a U-Haul press release, the moving and storage company will offer college students throughout the country 30 days of free storage space.
“We don’t know how every student is affected. But we know they are affected,” JU-Haul’s CEO John “JT” Taylor said in the release. “More and more universities are giving instructions to leave campus and go home. Students and their parents are in need of moving and storage solutions. We have the expertise and network to help, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
U-Haul currently gives regular customers 30 days of storage with the purchase of a trailer or a truck, but according to U-Haul spokesperson Jeff Lockridge, no purchase is necessary for college students. The 30-day free self-storage offer is typically extended to communities impacted by a natural disaster. This marks the first time U-Haul has extended the offer companywide.
“There is no purchase of any kind necessary for the current offer to college students,” Lockridge told the Insider. “It is merely a gesture of goodwill given the extraordinary circumstances taking place and our ability to help.”
Lockridge added that those who need storage for their belongings while they sort out where to go next, should visit the U-Haul website to find a U-Haul location near them.
Since the coronavirus outbreak has hit US shores, colleges have increasingly been canceling classes. Twelve colleges in Florida and six colleges in California including the University of California have canceled classes. At least one school in Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Maryland, Illinois, and all city and state universities in New York have been canceled.
With schools canceling classes across the country, U-Haul has said it’s prepared for an early spring moving rush. U-Haul has more than 22,000 truck- and trailer-sharing locations, across the country.