- Why Do Vehicle Rental Companies Need Car Transport Services?
- How Much Do Vehicle Rental Companies Pay For Car Transport Services?
- Need Car Transport Services For A Vehicle Rental Company? Get Help Today!
The car rental industry is a big business – and it had a market value of more than $36.5 billion in 2020 alone. But behind the scenes, vehicle rental companies often must work closely with car transport services to meet customer expectations, ship cars, and provide the highest level of service to each client. Let’s discuss the importance of shipping vehicles for car rental companies now.
Why Do Vehicle Rental Companies Need Car Transport Services?
There are a number of different reasons that vehicle rental companies may need car transport services. They may need to ship vehicles to replace old cars and refresh their stock, ship a certain type of car – like a sedan – to a particular location to meet consumer demand, or use shipping services to help buy and sell rental vehicles.
- Refreshing vehicle stock – Most rental cars are used for between 4 to 22 months, with an average of about 13 months. That means that each year, they turn over nearly 93% of their inventory of vehicles. Vehicles that are in high demand, like SUVs and sedans, are typically replaced more frequently than utility vehicles like box trucks and moving vans.
Because of this, vehicle rental companies often must send new cars to a particular rental location from their headquarters or from the manufacturer’s lot – and car transport service companies typically handle these jobs. - Meeting consumer demand at a particular location – Car rental companies often allow you to drop off a vehicle at any location they operate, which can lead to imbalances of available vehicles.
For example, a car rental business in Orlando, Florida may have 10 sedans available – but only a handful of SUVs or minivans for rent, which could harm their ability to rent to large families going to Disney World or other vacation destinations. The company could send some of the sedans to a different location – one that’s short on sedans – and get more large, family vehicles to rent out to customers, balancing consumer demand and available vehicles. - Buying or selling rental vehicles – Most car rental companies will sell the vehicles they stop using – either to individual buyers, or to large used car dealerships like CarMax. Car transport services are essential to the logistics of this process, and allow the vehicles to be sent to their final destination after a sale.
Similarly, they frequently buy new cars, so they may need to ship a recently-purchased vehicle from a dealership or manufacturer to a particular rental location. Again, hiring a car carrier shipping service is the best way to do this.
How Much Do Vehicle Rental Companies Pay For Car Transport Services?
In most cases, vehicle rental companies will pay less for car transport services than individual consumers. There are a few reasons for this – including access to commercial rates, discounts for customer loyalty, and the lower cost of shipping multiple cars at once.
- Commercial shipping rates – Commercial car shipping customers like vehicle rental companies get lower overall rates than individual consumers, in most cases, thanks to economies of scale. Car shippers know that vehicle rental companies are great, loyal customers – and are willing to price their services accordingly.
- Loyalty and customer retention benefits – Some vehicle rental companies may offer further discounts for large vehicle rental companies – especially if they ship more than a certain number of cars per year. This helps increase customer loyalty and boosts customer retention for car shippers.
- Multi-car shipment discounts – Shipping one, two, or more cars to the same location on the same truck leads to big discounts, in most cases. Vehicle rental companies often ship multiple cars at once, so this leads to a lower overall cost per car.
Need Car Transport Services For A Vehicle Rental Company? Get Help Today!
At A-1 Auto Transport, we work with some of the best car shippers in the US. If you own or manage a large vehicle rental company and are looking to get the best rates while shipping cars between your facilities, we’re here to help. Contact us online or call us at (888) 230-9116 to tell us more about your situation, and see how A-1 Auto Transport can help you save on the quality shipping services you need.