Renting a car is an integral part of travel for many people, especially in developed countries, either for a business trip or a family vacation; but ... Where did this business come about? Who was the first to realize the need to provide the car rental service? The history of this huge business will naturally intertwined with the development of the automobile and its industry. Although the exact origins of the first rental company lost in the mists of the past, many historians believe that the first of these companies was created on August 20, 1916, when the real estate entrepreneur, Josiah Ellis "Joe" Saunders, Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States, launched the car rental business with a classified seven lines in the newspaper "Omaha World-Herald" announcing "Rental Car" ad.
Its fleet consisted of one car - a Ford Model T, which also was owned by a brother. In six months, Saunders, already had 18 Fords Model T, parked in his business called "Ford Livery Company", located at # 317 North 22nd Street, in the city of Omaha, Nebraska. Recall that the Ford Model T was the vehicle that Henry Ford built for the masses to have access to cars. The story goes that Saunders rented his Model T to customers and charged them ten cents per mile; it was possible to calculate with the help of a counting device of miles at that time was something orthodox and certainly imprecise and we now know as odometer. The story goes that the first car rented by Saunders, was a traveling salesman who wanted to impress a girl who had invited him to dinner. If there is some truth in this story I can not assert, the fact is that it adds a very attractive to give start to a wonderful industry that moves billions of dollars each year worldwide human element.
