{
 "source": "The Sales Traveler — the Index Desk",
 "license": "Free to use with attribution to The Sales Traveler. See https://thesalestraveler.com/press/",
 "dataUrl": "https://thesalestraveler.com/data/curb-to-client-index.json",
 "slug": "curb-to-client-index",
 "name": "The Curb-to-Client Index",
 "url": "https://thesalestraveler.com/curb-to-client-index/",
 "entityNoun": "Network",
 "measures": "published commitments",
 "period": "2026-07",
 "methodology": "The meeting is at 10; the car decides whether you're composed or apologizing. We scored the 8 major US rental networks on 15 published commitments: skipping the counter, cost clarity, and recovery when plans move. Top scores: 80. The category's biggest name commits to the least.",
 "scale": {
  "rawMax": 15,
  "displayMax": 100,
  "formula": "round(raw / rawMax * displayMax)"
 },
 "categories": [
  {
   "id": "A",
   "label": "Access (skip the counter)",
   "checks": [
    "Counter-skip at top tier committed",
    "Choose-your-own-car aisle committed",
    "App/keyless unlock committed"
   ],
   "max": 3
  },
  {
   "id": "S",
   "label": "Self-serve speed",
   "checks": [
    "Drop-and-go return stated",
    "E-receipt automatic",
    "Skip-line pickup for members"
   ],
   "max": 3
  },
  {
   "id": "C",
   "label": "Care & support",
   "checks": [
    "24/7 roadside stated",
    "Human phone line published",
    "Car-class availability guarantee published"
   ],
   "max": 3
  },
  {
   "id": "$",
   "label": "Cost clarity",
   "checks": [
    "Fuel options priced online",
    "Toll program pricing published",
    "Deposit hold amount published"
   ],
   "max": 3
  },
  {
   "id": "R",
   "label": "Flexibility & recovery",
   "checks": [
    "After-hours return stated",
    "One-way bookable online",
    "EV charging rules published"
   ],
   "max": 3
  }
 ],
 "entities": [
  {
   "rank": 1,
   "name": "Hertz",
   "category": {
    "A": 2,
    "S": 3,
    "C": 2,
    "$": 2,
    "R": 3
   },
   "score": 80,
   "note": "Gold Choice matches the aisle promise; the EV fleet comes with the most explicit published charging rules in the business.",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 2,
   "name": "National",
   "category": {
    "A": 2,
    "S": 3,
    "C": 2,
    "$": 2,
    "R": 3
   },
   "score": 80,
   "note": "The Emerald Aisle is the category's defining commitment: pick the car, skip the human. Deposit holds stay unpublished, like everyone's.",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 3,
   "name": "Avis",
   "category": {
    "A": 2,
    "S": 3,
    "C": 2,
    "$": 2,
    "R": 2
   },
   "score": 73,
   "note": "The app's select-and-go commitment is real; no aisle, and after-hours EV guidance is thinner than the leaders'.",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 4,
   "name": "Sixt",
   "category": {
    "A": 1,
    "S": 3,
    "C": 2,
    "$": 3,
    "R": 2
   },
   "score": 73,
   "note": "The only major publishing deposit-hold amounts — the cost-clarity commitment the US incumbents refuse.",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 5,
   "name": "Budget",
   "category": {
    "A": 1,
    "S": 3,
    "C": 2,
    "$": 2,
    "R": 2
   },
   "score": 67,
   "note": "Fastbreak skips the counter; everything above the floor — choice, holds, EV terms — goes unstated.",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 6,
   "name": "Alamo",
   "category": {
    "A": 1,
    "S": 3,
    "C": 2,
    "$": 1,
    "R": 2
   },
   "score": 60,
   "note": "Online check-in genuinely commits to skipping the line; the rest of the promise set is leisure-grade.",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 7,
   "name": "Dollar",
   "category": {
    "A": 1,
    "S": 2,
    "C": 2,
    "$": 1,
    "R": 2
   },
   "score": 53,
   "note": "Express membership exists; the published commitments around it are the thinnest of the majors.",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 8,
   "name": "Enterprise",
   "category": {
    "A": 0,
    "S": 2,
    "C": 2,
    "$": 2,
    "R": 2
   },
   "score": 53,
   "note": "The service-culture giant commits to almost nothing in writing — no skip program, no aisle, no published holds. The counter IS the product.",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  }
 ],
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  "contact": "rachel@thesalestraveler.com",
  "governance": "https://thesalestraveler.com/governance/"
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}