Avis 2008 Annual Report Download - page 17

Utilization and seasonality . Our car rental business is subject to seasonal variations in customer demand, with the summer vacation period
representing the peak season. The general seasonal variation in demand, along with more localized changes in demand at each of our locations,
causes us to vary our fleet size over the course of the year. For 2008, our average monthly fleet size in the U.S. ranged from a low of
approximately 269,000 vehicles in December to a high of approximately 380,000 vehicles in July. Compared to 2007, our average fleet size
decreased approximately 1% in 2008 at approximately 338,000 vehicles. Average domestic fleet utilization for 2008, which is based on the
number of rental days (or portion thereof) that vehicles are rented compared to the total amount of time that vehicles are available for rent,
ranged from 68% in December to 79% in August and averaged 75% for 2008, which was consistent with 2007 levels. Our calculation of
utilization may not be comparable to other companies’ calculation of similarly titled statistics.
Maintenance
. We place a strong emphasis on vehicle maintenance for customer safety and customer satisfaction reasons, as well as because
quick and proper repairs are critical to fleet utilization. To accomplish this task we employ a fully-certified National Institute for Automotive
Service Excellence (“ASE”) technician instructor at our headquarters. This instructor has developed a specialized training program for our 405
technicians who operate in approximately 85 maintenance and damage repair centers for both Avis and Budget. We use advanced diagnostic
equipment, including General Motors’ “Tech 2” and MDI diagnostic systems and Ford’s IDS diagnostic system. Our technician training
department also prepares its own technical service bulletins that can be retrieved electronically at all of our repair locations. Approximately 85%
of our technicians are ASE-certified.
Customer service
Our commitment to delivering a consistently high level of customer service is a critical element of our success and strategy. We conduct daily
location-specific customer satisfaction tracking by sending web-based surveys to recent customers of our top volume locations. In 2008, we
received over 530,000 responses to our online customer satisfaction survey (the Voice of the Customer Survey). The Voice of the Customer
Survey selects customers at specific locations to evaluate their overall satisfaction with their rental experience at that location. Results are
analyzed generally and by location to help further enhance our service levels to our customers. In addition, we utilize a toll-free “800” number
and a dedicated customer service e-mail address to allow customers of both Avis and Budget to report problems directly to our customer
relations department. Location associates and managers also receive training and are empowered to resolve virtually all customer issues at the
location level. We prepare weekly and monthly reports on the types and number of complaints received for use by location management in
conjunction with the customer satisfaction reports as feedback of customer service delivery.
Environmental Initiatives
Over the past several years, we have launched a number of initiatives to manage the environmental aspects of our business. We have focused on
and expect to continue to focus on the environmental profile of our car rental fleet, as measured using the United States Environmental
Protection Agency SmartWay Certification program. Sixty-three percent of the 2008 model year rental cars in our fleet met the standards for
U.S. EPA SmartWay Certification. We also offer gas/electric hybrid cars for rent in three different car classes and flex fuel cars for rent for those
seeking to minimize environmental impact through use of E-85 ethanol fuel. We also offer a significant number of vehicles equipped for
electronic toll collection, which published research indicates reduces hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emissions as well as emissions of
nitrogen oxides.
We have begun the process of creating formal Environmental Management Systems (EMS) for key airport locations in accordance with ISO
14001 international standards. We intend to use these standards to quantify the various environmental aspects of our business operations, and to
manage these aspects, reducing our impact when and where practicable. For example, all of the car washes installed at our Avis and Budget
facilities now recycle and reuse at least 80% of their wastewater. We also recently announced that we will make the puraDYN
®
Oil Filtration
System standard equipment on our fleet of nearly 300 heavy duty buses; this equipment upgrade is expected to reduce our use of motor oil
significantly.
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