The car hire industry is constantly striving to find new ways to operate that will reduce overheads and the environmental impact of their vehicles. The reason behind this search for new technologies within the car hire industry is predominantly due to market competition and courting trade. This article hopes to highlight some of the more common technologies being adopted within the car hire commercial sphere.
The car hire industry is often lobbied by eco-friendly activists who see the operations of companies as wasteful and extremely harmful to the environment. These calls however do not carry a great deal of weight in comparison to market forces; a far more compelling reason to adopt a greater environmental emphasis. Today customers are simply more likely to use a company with impressive eco credentials, whether this is down to the campaigners, the media or purely a growth in environmental conscience amongst the populace is difficult to ascertain. What is clear is that companies are more willing to use the environment as a selling tool.
One of the eco strategies being adopted is the including of more environmentally friendly vehicles. For example, some companies are now incorporating hybrid vehicles into their fleets. Even though this is a step in the right direction many commentators are critical, arguing that the move does not go far enough. For instance, many hybrid vehicles utilise hydrogen or bio fuel as a secondary fuel source. Unfortunately
the full effects of hydrogen power have not yet been fully realised and bio fuel has the problem of occupying valuable arable land for the purposes of fuel production.
Technology is not the only answer however, an impressive strategy is actually to look at how people utilise their hire car during the rental period. Part of this includes altering the way in which rates are calculated; more precisely it is a switch from daily to hourly rates. It is hoped that by doing this people will be less likely to hire a car for an extra day when they could drop it off earlier. Additionally this sort of strategy hopes to reduce congestion on the roads.
New technologies are not simply being used to increase environmental validity. One of the greatest worries within the car hire industry is how to keep fleets secure. Recently many cases of thefts have been apparent, especially those including organised criminals. The result of these thefts has been the introduction of thumbprint scanners in some outlets that act as further identification. Additionally, GPS tracking devices are also being placed in rental vehicles to aid tracing should a theft occur.
This article has presented only a few of the technologies now being used within the car hire industry. As demand for environmentally cars increases and security issues continue to rise, more technologies will be implemented to cater for these developments.
Author Resource:-
Travel expert Thomas Pretty studies some of the technologies being utilised within the car hire industry in terms of environmental and security issues.
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