Impact of Pandemic on Car Rental Industry

You don’t need to hear it from ACRA (American Car Rental Association)– your business probably has been profoundly and negatively impacted over the last two to three weeks. Cancellations, no-shows, drastic declines in rentals – even lack of physical space to park idled vehicles. Some published estimates indicate that overall domestic rentals have dropped between 50% and 80% month over month – February to March.

What You Can Do To Help Your Industry:

Contact your Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill and send them a message to “Include the car rental industry in the COVID-19 economic stimulus package”; be sure to note your business location and number of employees.

To find your Senators: www.senate.gov To find your Representative: www.house.gov

For the House, enter your zip code and you will be directed to the legislators’ websites; ACRA suggests you send a message, rather than call, as most Hill offices with have answering machines on at this point. ACRA Actions

• ACRA Board LetterACRA’s Board of Directors sent the attached letter to U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin yesterday seeking federal assistance for the car rental industry. The main goals of the letter: (1) relief from an industry liquidity crisis through disposition of vehicle assets, perhaps through purchases by the federal government or other government support; and, (2) relief from airport concession contract minimum guarantees and consolidated facility charges, again looking to Uncle Sam to make airports “whole” on payments the car rental industry can’t make due to the lack of rentals. ACRA’s letter was also circulated to senior staff in the White House and in the House and Senate – who are working on a potentially $2 trillion “Stage 3” economic stimulus package (see below).

• “Essential Transportation Services” One-Pager Some local or state governments are restricting operation of some “non-essential” businesses. ACRA prepared a one-pager for ACRA members to use with government officials confirming that car rentals are an “essential transportation service” that must be allowed to continue to operate during the pandemic.

Congressional Actions

• “Families First” Law President Trump signed this $100 billion stimulus/aid legislation.

• “Stage 3” ProposalThe Department of Treasury released the attached “Stage 3” stimulus proposal yesterday; Congress is expected to act on this third pandemic stimulus legislation by the end of the week; it ultimately could seek to inject over $2 trillion of federal spending into the economy in a matter of weeks.