If you're on the hunt for a bike rack and can't find one, you're not alone. Bike racks are currently low stock, out of stock or backordered as bike sales soar amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
High demand for bike racks and installation is putting it lightly.
“U-Haul is the number one installer of after-market hitches in the entire U.S., so we’ve got a hitch professional installing hitches, bike racks, trailer hitches, just about everything else you can imagine at almost all of our 2,000 company-owned stores, said Jeff Lockridge, with U-Haul International.
“There’s enough customers asking for them to where the primary manufacturers have a backlog and that was the very reason that our hitch manager decided to expand our product line and go out and sign up more bike rack manufacturers to make sure we’ve got product quicker.”
In fact, so many people want bike racks and hitches, June 2020 saw the biggest sales month in U-Haul’s 75-year history. Those June sales broke the May sales, which were also record-high. It also sent the U-Haul sales team looking for more companies to deliver more product.
“We are understandably handcuffed a little bit by how quickly manufacturers can get product to us so that we can take care of our customers because people are wanting to get out and ride their bikes now,” Lockridge said.
They expanded and now offering racks from 15 different companies.
Also in high demand: U-Haul’s "contactless" system.
“They can rent a truck, pick it up, entirely on their cell phone without having contact with our team members,” explained Lockridge.