May/June 2010

Cover Story

Extended Hold Times vs. a Short Cycle

by Chris Brown

Rental car operators are increasing their fleet vehicles’ months in service. But do you really have to drive up hold times to survive?


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Features

Car Rental Show 2010: Right-sized for the Future

By Chris Brown

As the industry emerges from the recession, auto rental executives, operators and other professionals met at this year’s show ready to tackle the issues of fleet financing, lifecycle management, remarketing, utilization and no-show fees.

What’s Wrong (and Right) With Car Rental Customer Service?

By Chris Brown

Consumer advocate Christopher Elliott weighs in on the industry from the other side of the rental counter, including damage complaints, surprise add-on charges, car rental taxation and no-show fees.

The ABC’s of Manufacturer Repurchase Programs

By Tim Yopp and Mark Eckhaus

Repurchase programs are still available to small- and medium-sized rental companies. For the uninitiated, here’s how they work and when they work best.

Tracking Your Vehicles With RFID

By Justina Ly

To streamline its operations, reduce theft and improve employee accountability, a car rental operation in Miami uses RFID tags to identify and track its vehicles.

Hertz to Acquire Dollar Thrifty for $1.2 Billion

By Justina Ly

The deal will give Hertz 1,550 additional locations worldwide and a total of 9,800 across six continents. The combined market share for the group will be 24 percent, based on Auto Rental News’ 2009 estimates of total fleet size.

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Auto Focus Blog: A blog covering fleets, auto rental and the business of cars

Which Hybrids Pay Back the Quickest?

After five years and 15,000 miles of driving per year, are there any hybrids that actually have a lower cost of ownership than their gas-engine counterparts? One unexpected vehicle takes the prize.

How Far Will Cell Phone Bans Go?

The federal government means business with its new law banning cell phone use while driving commercial vehicles. Can the laws go even further, and how should fleets react?

Righting a Wrong in Arizona

Arizona is one of a super minority of states in which auto rental companies are required by statute to pay for the negligent acts of their renters. Look for new legislation in the coming weeks that proposes to change that.

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