Slippery conditions in Canada boost rental car business

Icy roads, hundreds of traffic collisions and overburdened auto body repair shops are contributing to a surge in business at rental car companies in the Calgary, Alberta area – and in other parts of Canada hit by severe winter storms.

The revenue manager at Budget Car & Truck Rental of Southern Alberta, Wade Stender, reported an increase of 15-20 per cent in business  last month as compared with December of 2007.

“There’s been more snow and more accidents through the month of December and it’s increased our business,” he said.

According to the Calgary Police Service spokeswoman Emma Poole, 6,158 collisions were recorded in December, which is a significant increase over the 4,574 recorded in the same month of the previous year.

Stender also remarked that customers are renting the vehicles for longer periods – as long as 12-15 days – as auto body repair shops are being kept so busy due to the number of collisions.

The assistant manager of Discount Car and Truck Rentals at Calgary’s international airport, Ben Minhas, is saying that their insurance replacement rental business has seen a 25-30 per cent increase.

According to Minhas, 90 per cent of its business relates to insurance replacement rentals – in which insurance companies pay the cost of a rental vehicle while a car is being repaired.

Thanks to www.canada.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.budget.com