June 18, 2020—This week, Enterprise released a special May 2020 Length of Rental data report. The report noted that many ways that the collision repair industry was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the month of April, Enterprise analyzed the impact on length of rental (LOR) across three main vehicle statuses: drivable, non-drivable, and total loss. The analysis, aided by PartsTrader data, noted a marked increase in LOR across the board, though the percentage of rentals attributed to each vehicle status was relatively static, year over year.
While April 2020 showed an increase year over year of 2.1 days, May 2020 showed a decrease of just a half a day compared to a year prior.
The survey's creators concluded that, as impactful as the pandemic was on LOR in April, historical trends returned in May. Thus, with reduced claims counts observed nationally, repair facilities were able to turn a smaller amount of repairs around more quickly. Additionally, new processes such as touchless contact, remote authorizations, and remote pickup and delivery were refined as shops adjusted to customer demands.