With the help of Jim Tennant of The Tennant Group and Michael Meyer of Rate-Highway Inc., we are conducting rate surveys on a weekly basis and providing analysis and comments where appropriate. We publish this monthly recap in our electronic edition and more comprehensive looks in the print editions.

The first seven months of 2016 have showed mixed results — a weak January, a strong May, and the other five months had very little change from the previous year.

Industry hopes for a strong balance of 2016 did not seem likely, but August rate quotes showed some strength, up $2.81 or 7% from August 2015. We changed the scale of the accompanying graph that features the last 24 months’ quotes. It now starts at $30 rather than $0, thus showing the year-to-year changes more clearly.

The chart shows the 52-week average quotes from the eight major brands. Hertz has regained its historic first place position, although it is tied with National. On average, the top three brands are 34% above the weighted average, compared to 32% in the previous 12 months.

Dollar is slightly above Thrifty this year compared to being below by over $2 in the previous 12 months.