National Car Rental recently hosted a friendly competition that focused on customer service. National sponsored the first-ever Clean Car Olympics in Orlando, Fla., with each service agent given only 45 minutes to wash and refuel two sedans and one SUV.

“Providing clean, well-maintained vehicles is a major customer priority for the entire car rental industry,” said John Murphy, vice president of airport operations. “However, National Car Rental—especially our Emerald Club service—is known for speed as well as quality, so we take great pride in delivering the cleanest cars possible as fast as possible.”

National’s 2,000 service agents clean more than 15 million vehicles at U.S. airports annually, an average of 41,000 per day. Last winter, National’s service agents began competing locally and regionally across the country, which offered a fun, unique way for employees to concentrate on an important consumer initiative and a major business objective. Six of the best and fastest service agents qualified for the 2008 “Clean Car Olympics” and were flown to Orlando for a celebratory dinner and the event.

Clean Car Olympics Winners:

– Latanya Christian, Birmingham, Ala., won the gold medal and a $1,000 prize.
– Christian Rivera, Sanford, Fla., won the silver medal and a $500 prize.
– James Dealer, Syracuse, N.Y., won the bronze medal and a $250 prize.

Other regional finalists were: Craig Scott from Cleveland, Ohio; Lloyd Shanks from Reno, Nevada; and Ryehe Maugaotega from Honolulu, Hawaii.