It is very rare that a manager/executive of a well-known company would be as frank or forthcoming in information as the author is in this book. It is typical for those at this level to be highly reserved or "protective" of information, and exercise "discretion" in their dealings with others. Tact and prudence are their modus operandi, and therefore any genuine information or commentary coming from them is filtered to such a degree as to make it useless or inert. It is therefore refreshing to know that the author has chosen to write this book and use the language that he does therein. Readers interested in the history of Enterprise Rent-A-Car (ERAC) may find the book of interest, if only to get a viewpoint that is outside the control of company propaganda. There are only a few books written about ERAC, and the authors of these books approach the subject with an uncritical adulation for the owners of the company and its culture, making them useless for genuine historical analysis. Readers, such as this reviewer, who have worked at ERAC will find some common ground with the author, and possibly differ with his opinions at some points. Such readers will no doubt chuckle at some of the historical anecdotes, and also feel disgust at some of the antics of top-level managers. In general though the book is a valuable contribution to the literature, but one hopes that a very detailed overview of the history of ERAC will one day be written.
One very important fact that comes out of this book is the actual role that the renting of cars played in the early days of ERAC. According to the author, it was the leasing of cars, and not their daily rental, which was the primary income generator at this time. The author describes the haughty and arrogant attitude of the managers in the leasing division displayed to those who worked at the rental sites. This fact goes against the assertions made by company sycophants who claim that it was Jack Taylor's vision and entrepreneurial skills that were responsible for the growth of the company: namely daily rentals were part of the grand plan that he had in mind for revenue generation. The rental business could thus be viewed as playing an accidental role in building the firm, and not as some brilliant foresight on the part of Jack Taylor or his relatives. Along these same lines, the author does not elaborate on the role that the taking of car insurance played in the generation of revenue at the rental sites all over the United States and Canada (and now Britain and Europe as well). He does mention the priority selling of "collision damage waivers" to customers, but as one of their managers told this reviewer while employed there, it is this insurance that is the primary money-maker for the company. Of course, many who rent cars from ERAC are beginning to learn that such insurance is completely unnecessary, and some states have demanded that ERAC inform renters in writing that such is the case.
The other side of the coin is that ERAC faces an enormous challenge combating fraud and actual theft of its rental cars. The author gives some examples of this in the book, and they give the reader an appreciation of just how difficult it is to deal with crooks, fraudsters, and other creeps who stage fake accidents, steal rental cars outright, or do not return cars on time. Also, those at the rental desk have to deal with irate or threatening customers, and this can no doubt be highly stressful for those who have to do it. The author reminds the reader that it is these individuals who generate the wealth for the company, and do so at salaries which are nowhere near the scale of those higher in the ERAC hierarchy (and those that populate these hierarchies are frequently completely useless in some cases argues the author).
And then there are the employees at ERAC who the author refers to as "backstabbers". These are the ones who let fear get the best of them he says, and their inability to deal with their anxieties motivates them to make others look completely incompetent, and thus paint themselves in a more rosy but fictitious scenario of competence. This reviewer can attest to the overabundance of such individuals at ERAC, and a few of us jokingly referred to them as "yellow bellies", both to honor their cowardice and to contrast them with the company color (green). They and the strategies they deployed became an ongoing subject of discussion at lunchtime, and the list of those who engaged in such behavior were usually managers or those "ordinary" employees who did not have the mental faculties or competence to complete even the most rudimentary of tasks. But it was very disheartening for us to observe highly intelligent individuals become tempted to act this way. Since they were such good employees, and highly skilled in their job functions, we considered it a tragedy that they would betray their intellect and engage in this type of behavior, and pondering why they had ambitions to become a "yellow belly" was again a subject of intense discussions at lunch breaks.
Even though leaving the company long before the layoffs began in the fall of 2008, the author gives an epilogue to the book that mentions them and speculates as to the future of the company. Going public may be an option he says, but he also wonders why its company founder, Jack Taylor, does not contribute some of his billions to alleviate some of the difficulties that ERAC is facing. Maybe the field of neuroeconomics will shed light on why Jack Taylor does not choose to do so, but if the facts in this book are to be taken at face value, it is clear that Jack Taylor's billions were obtained solely by his legal ownership of ERAC, not by the exercise of his intellect, as is so often asserted by his marketing personnel.
There is much more that could be said about life at ERAC, such as the odd behavior of some managers and human resources personnel, the law suits that ERAC has faced and that made popular headlines, the many ridiculous prohibitions that employees face while employed there, its love/hate relationship with information technology, its tokenistic drive for diversity in the workplace, and the challenges that ERAC faces in the future. One will need to document these after looking at the history of ERAC with microscopic detail. That is the subject of a future book perhaps, and a future review.
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