Hello and welcome to the 2025 U-Haul Holding Company Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Before we begin, I'd like to remind all participants of this event that certain of the statements, including without limitation, statements regarding revenue, expenses, income, and general growth of our business may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Certain factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. For discussion of the risks and uncertainties that may affect the company's business and future operating results, please refer to our most recent Form 10-K filing with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission and any updates as may be provided in our periodic Form 10-Q filings. I will now turn the meeting over to Joe Shoen, Chairman of U-Haul Holding Company.
Good morning and welcome. I'm Joe Shoen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of U-Haul Holding Company, and I will be presiding today as the Chairman of this meeting. I am calling the 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of U-Haul Holding Company to order. On behalf of our Board of Directors and Management Team, I welcome all of you. I would like to acknowledge those stockholders and others who are viewing the meeting by means of the webcast. This year, once again, we're conducting our annual meeting both in person and via live webcast as part of the company's sustainability initiatives. We encourage our stockholders to attend the meeting by means of the webcast, and we encourage our stockholders to access our annual proxy statement materials electronically over the internet. This virtual meeting platform reduces the cost and the carbon footprint of the annual meeting.
This is our 19th year using this format. I want to acknowledge our Board of Directors who are present here in person: James Akeridge, John R. Brogan, James J. Grogan, Richard J. Herrera, Carl A. Schmidt, Roberta R. Schenk, and Samuel J. Shoen, as well as our non-director members, Thomas Hayes and Doug Ducey. For those of you here in person, if you have not already done so, please register with the Secretary of the meeting. By affidavit of Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., we have been informed that proper notice of this meeting was distributed to certain stockholders on July 2nd, 2025. At that time, our stockholders were provided with notice of the meeting and access to our 2025 proxy statement and fiscal 2025 annual report. Certain other stockholders were mailed paper copies or were sent electronic copies of these proxy materials beginning on July 2nd, 2025.
The materials were distributed to those persons who were stockholders of record as of June 23rd, 2025, the record date for this meeting. I have been informed that a quorum is present, and I declare that this is a duly constituted meeting of the stockholders of U-Haul Holding Company. It's my objective to encourage open communication and the free expression of ideas that are conducive to the best interests of the stockholders of the company and to conduct an informed meeting in a fair and orderly manner. Accordingly, at the end of the meeting, I will take questions and comments from stockholders or their proxies. If you would like to address this meeting at that time, please wait to be recognized by me, then state your name, state whether you are a stockholder or a proxy, and if you are a proxy, state the name of the stockholder you represent.
Then you may concisely state your business or pose your question, limiting your statements to two minutes. For those stockholders viewing the annual meetings through the webcast, on your computer screen, there is an Ask a Question text box. If you have a question or comment, please type it into the box and include your name. Our General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Christine Campbell, will assist with any questions or matters that may arise relating to the rules or conduct of the meeting. At 11:00 A.M. Pacific Time today, we will hold our 19th annual virtual analyst and investor webcast. All stockholders are encouraged to join us there to learn more about our organization from a variety of U-Haul managers. You can sign in to the investor webcast at investors.uhall.com. We have four proposals for consideration at this meeting.
The proposals are as follows: Proposal one, the election of the following directors, each to hold office and serve as a member of the board until the 2026 annual meeting of stockholders: Edward J. Shoen, James E. Akeridge, John P. Brogan, James J. Grogan, Richard J. Herrera, Carl A. Schmidt, Roberta R. Schenk, and Samuel J. Shoen. Proposal two, the ratification of the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2026. Proposal three is a proposal received from company stockholder proponents to ratify and affirm the decisions and actions taken by the board and the executive officers of the company with respect to U-Haul Holding Company, its subsidiaries, and its various constituencies for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. Proposal four is a proposal to approve the U-Haul Holding Company stock option plan.
The Caridio Group, Inc. as the designee of Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. has been appointed as a vote tabulator and inspector of elections at this meeting. You should have already reviewed with Caridio any proxies that you intend to vote in person at this meeting. If you have not done so, please do so at this time. Thank you. There was no additional voting. Voting is now concluded. No further votes, proxies, changes, substitutions, or revocations are permitted. Before we get to the vote tally, I would like to comment on our operations and our results from fiscal year 2025. Over the fiscal year, we surpassed 24,000 rental locations in neighborhoods across the United States and Canada. This distribution, of course, is one of our strengths. We finished with a modest increase in equipment rental revenue year- over- year. Moving customer optimism has gradually improved.
This improvement has not yet been enough to declare a definitely positive trend. The depreciation realized in the fiscal year reflects higher costs for replacement equipment and additional investment made to increase capacity or the size of the fleet. The effects of these decisions will continue into fiscal year 2026. Our moving customers desire self-storage and vice versa. During the fiscal year, we added 6.5 million net rentable square feet of self-storage and increased our coverage storage capacity for U-Box by nearly 25%. Consumer awareness continues to grow for U-Box as both a moving product and a storage solution. U-Box is a definite part of the company's future. After 80 years in business, and this begins our 80th year, this summer begins our 80th year in business, U-Haul is blessed with a cadre of home office and field personnel.
I have had some success growing their knowledge and expanding their ranks. This will ensure the company's survival and prosperity. I will now ask Robert Johnson of The Caridio Group, our independent inspector of elections, to provide a preliminary vote tally. Robert?
Thank you. Preliminary voting results indicate that in excess of 17.2 million shares were voted in person or by proxy, representing more than 87% of shares eligible to vote. Based on these preliminary results, each of the eight board nominees received in excess of 91% of votes cast for their election and have been duly elected. Deloitte & Touche LLP has been approved as the company's independent registered public accountants for fiscal year ended March 31st, 2026. The proposal to ratify and affirm the decisions and actions taken by the board and executive officers of the company has been approved, and the company's 2025 stock option plan has also been approved. Thank you.
Thank you, Robert. You have heard the preliminary results of the voting. The final election results will be filed on Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We'll now take questions from the audience or anything submitted over the webcast. Sebastien, do we have some questions?
Joe, there are no questions at this time.
I'm tempted to ask questions because, of course, I'm also a shareholder as well as being an officer. One of the questions is, why do we ask the shareholders to ratify the action of the officers and directors of the company? That's very common in private organizations, very uncommon in publicly held corporations. We do it, and it's possible. You tell me, is that the least popular of all the motions with the shareholders? Robert, I believe it's the least popular.
Yes, it is.
It's the least popular thing with the shareholders. I'd like you to reflect on that and see if it isn't the most popular. What we're trying to do is, first of all, attract talent. Talent isn't attracted to lawsuits over decisions made three years ago. Of course, this affirmation of the officers and directors, you can't affirm fraud. If someone's committed fraud, that's a wholly different thing. Judgment, and that's what we pay our officers and directors to have. Judgment can always be questioned. The way we do it is we hold the judgments open for a year. If there's no serious questions about them, we get the shareholders or ask the shareholders to affirm those. It just basically cleans the slate and shortens the tail of possible decisions. Personally, as a director, I'm pleased that the corporation does that.
I would suggest that if some of you reflect, you may find that you too would see it in your best interest. I have no further questions. There's no further business requiring stockholder action. I now adjourn the 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of U-Haul Holding Company. Thank you.
Thank you.