In the modern world, car rental plays a big role for those who do not have a vehicle. At the same time, even for a driver who has a personal car, it may happen that some part of it will break, and at one time it will be impossible to drive it.
The notion that businessmen primarily rent vehicles for business meetings and to transport important clients from airports and rail stations is a major misconception. Current usage demonstrates that the rental service is utilized by those who are unable to drive or do not own a personal vehicle. That is why search requests regarding how to rent Porsche in Dubai or how to rent an SUV in London are becoming extremely popular.
In general, car rental, it seems, will not lose relevance for a long time. At least, for more than a hundred years, people in most countries of the world have been actively using such services. During this time, a lot of interesting facts have accumulated on the topic of car rental.
Who first started doing this
It is believed that the history of car rental began on August 20, 1916. It was on this day that an American mechanic named Joe Sanders filed an ad in the Omaha World-Herald, in which he wrote that he could lend his car to those who were willing to pay for it. The cost was quite low. Sanders didn’t know if his newly minted service would become popular, so he charged customers very little money – only ten cents per mile.
Curiously, even when Joe realized that the business was a great success, the cost of renting a car did not rise. Joe, like other entrepreneurs who also started renting cars, used a Ford Model for this. At the same time, there were no other models in Sanders’ company at all.
Walter Jacobs and his business
Even though Walter Jacobs from Chicago opened his car rental company after Sanders, his business developed much faster and was considered more profitable. At the same time, Walter, even before the creation of the company, had about ten Ford cars and was a rich man.
Invented by Hertz, the low-floor bus
The low-floor passenger bus, created by Hertz, is a popular means of transportation from airports to an off-site rental location. The low floor and extra room, which were formerly reserved for Hertz, shortened loading times and increased passenger access.
It wasn’t just Avis
In Willow Run, Detroit, airport automobile rentals were first offered in 1946. Having become the second-biggest automobile rental firm in the US after Hertz, Avis coined the catchphrase “We are trying” in 1962. The phrase was in use for fifty years before being replaced with “This is your space” during a 2012 makeover.
An encrypted code
The Association of Systems and Standards of the Car Rental Industry (ACRISS) created an identification system that describes the size, number of doors, type of transmission (manual/automatic), and whether the car comes with air conditioning. All that is encoded in four letters to make it easier to compare the rental car prices of different manufacturers and types of cars.
Car rental during the Prohibition in the United States
The introduction of the “prohibition law” has made adjustments to the development of car rental. Rampant crime associated with the ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages has affected the activities of transport agencies.
Rental cars have become popular among criminal groups that are engaged in various types of illegal activities: robbing banks, transporting alcohol, pimping, etc.
It was only at the end of the 30s that firms that provide rental cars managed to regain their lost trust and former reputation. This was facilitated by the growth of the business – business people began to actively turn to car rental. To meet the increased demand, car rental companies began to place their offices even at railway stations.
The reason for the temporary collapse of car rental
As you know, it was the pioneers of this industry who had the most difficult times. The main problem was the Great Depression, which took place in North America from October 24, 1929, to 1939.
At this time, such services were no longer needed by Americans. In addition, after that, the Second World War began, which also, for obvious reasons, negatively affected not only the car rental business but also in other areas.
However, there were also advantages – the rapid economic recovery made itself felt. People were inspired to make discoveries and invent new technologies. Of course, after some time, car rental regained its former popularity, not only in the USA but also in all other countries of the world.
