Originally Posted by
dwbf11
I'm going to disagree with the above posters. There is no reason you cannot haul dirt (or anything else that might be dirty/large/etc) in a rental pickup. And it's cheaper to use a rental pickup than a U-Haul, Lowe's, or Home Depot truck, all of which charge you by the mile. It is for this reason the rental companies all spec their pickups with bedliners (and not plain metal beds).
I frequently get pickups from my local HLE, and this particular HLE rents out its pickups to contractors and construction companies all the time. On many occasions when I go to pick up (no pun intended) there are woodchips or other mulch scraps in the beds.
It probably would be a good idea to hose it out and vacuum inside if you really mess it up. I would be extra careful with shovels/rakes etc because dents and scratches ARE the kind of damage you can get in trouble for.
I also wouldn't recommend using the truck for towing anything (does not sound like you will), which is expressly forbidden by the rental agreement. Putting stuff in the bed and hauling is not.
The few times I rented a stick bed from Home Depot, they did not check mileage at all. They do, however, offer hourly rates in addition to daily. Depending on how long OP needs the truck, one may turn out to simply be cheaper than the other.
I don't doubt that you've found a HLE that doesn't mind their pickups being used for hauling, or that others may exist. But, I do agree with OP that in the DC area, most of the rental pickups I've seen are NOT spec'd with bedliners. They really are for people who just want to tool around town using a truck as a passenger vehicle, with no intention of using the bed.
I think OP should explore all the options on price/convenience/utility, and if Hertz or some other car rental agency makes the most sense, maybe inquire at the location how they expect their trucks to be treated. My guess is that it may even vary from location to location.