Avis 2015 Annual Report Download - page 20

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Budget Truck
Our Budget Truck rental business is one of the largest local and one-way truck rental businesses in the United
States. Our Budget Truck fleet is comprised of approximately 21,000 vehicles that are rented through a network of
approximately 1,000 dealers and 450 Company-operated locations throughout the continental United States.
These dealers are independently-owned businesses that generally operate other retail service businesses. In
addition to their principal businesses, the dealers rent our light- and medium-duty trucks to consumers and to our
commercial accounts and are responsible for collecting payments on our behalf. The dealers receive a
commission on all truck and ancillary equipment rentals. 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.
Other Brands
Our Payless brand is a leading rental car supplier positioned to serve the deep-value segment of the car rental
industry. We operate or license the Payless brand, which is comprised of approximately 200 vehicle rental
locations worldwide, including approximately 80 Company-operated locations and more than 100 locations
operated by licensees. All Company-operated Payless locations are in the United States, the majority of which are
at or near major airport locations. Payless’ base T&M fees are often lower than those of larger, more established
brands, but Payless has historically achieved a greater penetration of ancillary products and services with its
customers. The Payless business model allows the Company to extend the life cycle of a portion of our fleet, as
we “cascade” certain vehicles that exceed certain Avis and Budget age or mileage thresholds to be used by
Payless.
Our Apex brand operates primarily in the deep-value segment of the car rental industry in New Zealand and
Australia, where we have approximately 20 Apex rental locations. Apex operates its own rental fleet, separate
from Avis and Budget vehicles and generally older and less expensive than vehicles offered by Avis, Budget and
other traditional car rental companies. Apex generates substantially all of its reservations through its proprietary
websites and contact center and typically has a greater than average length of rental. The substantial majority of
Apex locations are at or near major airport locations.
In 2015, we acquired Maggiore Group, a leading vehicle rental services company in Italy, and we continue to
operate more than 100 rental locations in Italy under the Maggiore brand. Our Maggiore brand is the fourth-
largest vehicle rental brand in Italy and has a strong domestic reputation in the commercial, leisure and insurance
replacement/leasing segments. Maggiore benefits from a strong presence at airport, off-airport and railway
locations. We have integrated numerous elements of Maggiore’s operations and fleet management into our
existing processes.
RESERVATIONS, MARKETING AND SALES
Reservations
Our customers can make vehicle rental reservations through our brand-specific websites and through our toll-free
reservation centers, by calling a specific location directly, through brand-specific mobile applications, through
online travel agencies, through travel agents or through selected partners, including many major airlines. Travel
agents can access our reservation systems through all major global distribution systems (“GDSs”), which provide
information with respect to rental locations, vehicle availability and applicable rate structures.
Our Zipcar members may reserve cars by the hour or by the day through Zipcar’s reservation system, which is
accessible by phone, Internet or through the Zipcar application on their smartphone. We also provide two-way
SMS texting, enabling us to proactively reach out to members during their reservation via their mobile device to
manage their reservation, including instant reservation extension.
In 2015, we generated approximately 28% of our vehicle rental reservations through our brand-specific websites,
11% through our contact centers, 26% through GDSs, 13% through online travel agencies, 10% through direct-
connect technologies and 12% through other sources. Virtually all of our Zipcar car sharing reservations were