Avis 2009 Annual Report Download - page 18

Table of Contents
We also offer corporate customers a carbon footprint calculator designed to work with our data warehouse and compute the emissions from their
rental car use. We then offer our corporate customers a program to help them reduce their impact, including driver education, and the use of
carbon offset credits aimed at making their rental car use carbon neutral. We also have an alliance with Carbonfund.org, a leading non-profit
provider of carbon offset credits, to enable both renters and corporate customers to offset the emissions from their rental car use. Renters can
offset emissions on a daily, weekly or monthly basis on avis.com or budget.com.
Airport Concession Fees
In general, concession fees for on-airport locations are based on a percentage of total commissionable revenue (as defined by each airport
authority), subject to minimum annual guaranteed amounts. Concessions are typically awarded by airport authorities every three to five years
based upon competitive bids. Our concession agreements with the various airport authorities generally impose certain minimum operating
requirements, provide for relocation in the event of future construction and provide for abatement of the minimum annual guarantee in the event
of extended low passenger volume.
Competition
The car rental industry is characterized by intense price and service competition. Competition in our vehicle rental operations is based primarily
upon price, reliability, vehicle availability, national distribution, usability of booking systems, ease of rental and return, and other elements of
customer service. In addition, competition is influenced strongly by advertising, marketing and brand reputation. We compete primarily with the
following car rental companies: Hertz Global Holdings, Inc., which operates the Hertz and Advantage brands; Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group;
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company, which also operates the National Car Rental and Alamo brands; and Europcar.
Truck rental business
Operations
Budget’s truck rental business is one of the largest local and one-way truck rental businesses in the United States. The Budget truck rental
business has a combined fleet of approximately 29,000 trucks, with an average truck age of four years, which is rented through a network of
approximately 2,300 dealers and 250 company-operated locations throughout the continental United States. A certain number of our dealer
locations are operated by our Budget car rental franchisees. The Budget truck rental business serves both the consumer and light commercial
sectors. The consumer sector consists primarily of individuals who rent trucks to move household goods on either a one-way or local basis. The
light commercial sector consists of a wide range of businesses that rent light- to medium-duty trucks, which we define as trucks having a gross
vehicle weight of less than 26,000 pounds, for a variety of commercial applications. In 2009, the Budget truck rental business generated total
revenue of approximately $354 million.
We primarily advertise in “yellow pages” telephone directories and online to promote our truck rental business to potential customers. Budget
truck rental customers can make reservations through the Budget truck rental reservation center at 1-800-GO-BUDGET, through our Budget
truck rental website at budgettruck.com, through the truck link on our budget.com website or by calling a location directly.
We also partner with businesses and websites like moving.com to help reach our targeted audience. We maintain a co-branding agreement with
Public Storage, a leading operator of self-storage units, whereby we are an exclusive third-party provider of rental trucks at select Public Storage
locations, and engage in certain cross-promotional efforts. We also maintain a strategic partnership agreement with Pep Boys, a leading
automotive aftermarket service and retail chain, to promote Budget’s truck rental business and a relationship with AARP offering reduced rates
to members.
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