U-Haul offers 30-day storage free for college students who must suddenly move out

With the coronavirus pandemic forcing colleges and universities to cancel classes, U-Haul is stepping in to help students who suddenly have to move out of their dorms.

The moving storage company is offering 30-day free self-storage, U-Haul said this week.

"We don't know how every student is affected. But we know they are affected," U-Haul President John Taylor said on the company's website. "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."

Colleges like Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Berea College and Cornell University have asked students to vacate their on-campus housing for the rest of the semester. That's left students scrambling to find last-minute housing, storage and transportation.

Students can reserve a U-Haul truck, trailer or a U-Box -- a portable moving and storage container that can be stored in U-Haul warehouses -- by showing the company their college IDs.

Students can also get Collegeboxes, a kit of five standard-sized boxes, shipped to them for free. Once all the belongings are packed, the company will pick up the boxes from a dorm or apartment to be shipped anywhere across the globe or stored in a U-Haul facility.

"The 30 days free self-storage offer is typically extended to communities impacted by a natural disaster," U-Haul said. "This marks the first time U-Haul has extended the offer Company-wide."

The US has reported 1,680 cases of coronavirus in 47 states and the District of Columbia, with at least 41 deaths.