Dec. 16, 2016—U.S. length of rental (LOR) increased by 0.5 days in the third quarter versus the same period a year prior (11.4 to 11.9), Enterprise Rent-A-Car noted in a recent Mitchell International Industry Trend Report. This increase was largely due to an uptick in claims frequency and an escalation in complex repairs.
The Southwest region of the U.S. had an LOR nearly two days longer than the national average at 13.8 days, an increase of 1.3―and the state of Texas alone surged by 1.6 days. The California, Mountain and Northwest regions posted significant increases, too. Every state on the west coast experienced an increase, with California and Oregon at 0.8 days.
The mountain region exceeded the U.S. average with a 0.7-day increase generated by relatively consistent moves across each of the states. Montana made the most northworthy surge, increasing by one full day.
The Midwest and mid-Atlantic regions saw increases of 0.4 days each, with most states close to the average. Kansas and Missouri, however, jumped by 1.1 and 0.8 days, respectively.
The Northeast largely stayed flat, making it the only region not to increase.
In each region, there is a significant delta between the top and bottom quartiles, which suggests the opportunity for shops to drive results by focusing on elements they’re able to control, according to Mitchell. The three most impactful pieces, based on data and feedback from best-in-class operations, are formal training (I-Car Gold shops outperform the market by around 1.3 days), utilization of the ARMS Data Manager (approximately 1 day better), and a robust scheduling strategy.
