What A Great Country -- Nothing About The Bakken -- January 8, 2022

What a great Saturday night:

• Perry Mason re-runs on Hulu / Amazon Firestick;
• John Fogerty -- "Centerfield" on headphones;
• See's chocolates and Jameson whiskey (yes, with an "e") for dinner;
• looking at YouTube recipes using "the smoking gun; and, then this link from a reader:
• https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2022/01/08/report-californians-leaving-for-texas-so-rapidly-u-haul-ran-out-of-trucks/
• Californians leaving for Texas so rapidly, U-Haul ran out of trucks

I read the article, and then replied to the reader:

That's pretty funny. 

We have a small U-Haul storage unit just a five-minute bicycle ride from where we live.  I vowed some years ago to never rent storage space again, but it's turned out to be quite nice. 

I could pay for the rental on line, but I love to ride my bike down to U-Haul once monthly to talk to the folks and pay my bill. 

They said the same thing: they ran out of space to park trucks -- too many trucks coming in from California. 

They go through periods when they refuse to take new U-Hauls and folks bringing U-Hauls into this area have to find another U-Haul location. Amazing. 

I also learned this: U-Haul changes their rates based on demand. Rates have gone way up to rent U-Hauls from California to Texas.

I think I posted a blog about my sister in Portland, OR. When they moved out to Montana they were unable to find a U-Haul rental in Portland, OR. Too many folks moving out. They finally rented in Montana and drove empty all the way to Portland to get their stuff and bring it back to Montana. 

From the linked article:

A recent report from U-Haul revealed migration to southern states has continued and Texas was the top destination for those moving.

“California and Illinois ranked as the states with the greatest one-way net loss of U-Haul trucks, and most of that traffic appears to have gone to Texas and Florida.”

Texas was at the top of the list prior to the pandemic in 2016 and 2018, but fell to Florida in 2019 and Tennessee the next year. Now, it has retaken top place.

California’s net loss was not as bad as in 2020, but U-Haul said that was partly because the company “simply ran out of inventory to meet customer demand for outbound equipment.”

U-Haul noted in a recent press release:

Texas’s growth is statewide, although some of its biggest gains occurred in the suburbs around the DFW Metroplex. [We live in one of those suburbs; north of Ft Worth; northwest of Dallas.]

Overall moving traffic across Texas increased in 2021, as it did in most states. Arrivals of one-way U-Haul trucks jumped 19% while departures rose 18% over 2020. Arrivals made up 50.2% of all one-way U-Haul traffic last year in Texas.

“The Texas economy is growing fast,” Kristina Ramos, U-Haul Company of South Austin president, commented. “With a strong job market and low cost of living, it’s a no brainer. Texas doesn’t have an income tax, so families get more for their money.”

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Walk of Life, What A Great Country

Walk of Life, Dire StraitsWow, talk about sounding a lot like Bruce Springsteen.

Are you lonely tonight?

Are You Lonely Tonight, Sam Kinison