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United States
美國(guó)板塊
Travel returns
旅行解封
Baby, you can't drive my car
寶貝，你不能開(kāi)我的車(chē)
The pandemic has upended America's rental-car market
新冠顛覆了美國(guó)的汽車(chē)租賃市場(chǎng)
Hawaiians could be forgiven for bewilderment when they saw U-Haul trucks and cargo vans parked on their pristine beaches. In April Kaleo Alau, president of U-Haul in Hawaii, told the local news station that the moving company had received calls from concerned citizens who thought the vehicles' position looked suspicious. "We're like, OK, let's go and check it out, make sure it's not stolen," said Mr Alau. As it turns out, "it's just somebody at the beach!" Hawaii is not the only state where Americans are resorting to unusual forms of transport to get around. The country is facing a national shortage of rental cars because of the recession and disruptions caused by the pandemic.
當(dāng)夏威夷人看到UHaul(美國(guó)卡車(chē)租賃公司)卡車(chē)和貨車(chē)停在他們的原始海灘上時(shí)，他們的困惑是可以理解的。今年4月，U-Haul在夏威夷的總裁卡利奧·阿勞告訴當(dāng)?shù)仉娨暸_(tái)，搬家公司接到了憂心忡忡的市民打來(lái)的電話，他們認(rèn)為這些車(chē)輛的位置看起來(lái)可疑。阿勞表示：“我們會(huì)說(shuō)，好吧，我們?nèi)z查一下，確保它沒(méi)有被盜。”事實(shí)證明，“那就是某人開(kāi)到沙灘上的！”夏威夷并不是唯一一個(gè)美國(guó)人要使用不同尋常的交通工具出行的州。由于經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退和新冠造成的破壞，美國(guó)正面臨全國(guó)租車(chē)短缺的局面。
When lockdowns were imposed last spring, travel came to a standstill. The market for car-hire at airports disappeared almost overnight, says Greg Scott, a spokesman for the American Car Rental Association (ACRA), a trade group. ACRA members laid off or furloughed around 60,000 employees in 2020, about a third of the industry's American workforce. Hertz, a car-hire behemoth, declared bankruptcy last May. Avis, another industry giant, saw its second-quarter revenues decline by 67% year-on-year. Companies sold off their fleets to try to stop the bleeding. They weren't sure if or when demand would recover.
去年春天實(shí)行封鎖時(shí)，旅行陷入停頓。美國(guó)汽車(chē)租賃協(xié)會(huì)(ACRA)的發(fā)言人格雷格·斯科特說(shuō)，機(jī)場(chǎng)的汽車(chē)租賃市場(chǎng)幾乎一夜之間消失了。在2020年，ACRA的成員解雇了或讓大約6萬(wàn)名員工暫時(shí)休假，這約占該行業(yè)美國(guó)勞動(dòng)力的三分之一。汽車(chē)租賃巨頭赫茲(Hertz)去年5月宣布破產(chǎn)。另一個(gè)行業(yè)巨頭Avis第二季度收入同比下降了67%。公司出售了他們的車(chē)隊(duì)試圖止血。他們不確定需求是否或何時(shí)能夠復(fù)蘇。
Fast forward, and the summer of 2021 seems to mark a renaissance for the great American road trip. Americans hankering for a getaway but unable to travel abroad have set their sights on Hawaii, Florida or the national parks. Demand for rental cars has rocketed. But because companies have sold off so many vehicles, there are few to be found. An Expedia search for a hire car in Honolulu next weekend showed cars costing at least $350 a day. Twitter is filled with the fulminations of aggrieved travellers who wait hours at an airport counter only to be given a minivan—or nothing at all.
快進(jìn)到2021年的夏天，偉大的美國(guó)公路旅行似乎迎來(lái)了復(fù)興?？释鲇蔚譄o(wú)法出國(guó)旅行的美國(guó)人把他們的目光投向了夏威夷、佛羅里達(dá)或國(guó)家公園。對(duì)租車(chē)的需求急劇上升。然而由于公司出售了很多汽車(chē)，所以汽車(chē)很難租到。Expedia(在線旅游公司)搜索檀香山下周末的租車(chē)服務(wù)，結(jié)果顯示每天的租車(chē)費(fèi)用至少為350美元。推特上充斥著憤憤不平的旅客的譴責(zé)，他們?cè)跈C(jī)場(chǎng)柜臺(tái)前等待數(shù)小時(shí)只等到了一輛面包車(chē)——或者空空如也。
For rental-car companies, rebuilding fleets will take time. An international shortage of semiconductors, which are used in cars' electronic systems, has slowed manufacturing. A lack of new cars and, perhaps, a hesitancy to return to public transport have pushed up second-hand car sales by 30% in the past year. Things aren't all bad, however. Barclays, a bank, suggests high prices are helping firms recoup their losses.
對(duì)于汽車(chē)租賃公司來(lái)說(shuō)，重建車(chē)隊(duì)需要時(shí)間。用于汽車(chē)電子系統(tǒng)的半導(dǎo)體的國(guó)際短缺已經(jīng)減緩了制造業(yè)的發(fā)展。去年，由于缺乏新車(chē)和人們不愿重返公共交通，二手車(chē)銷(xiāo)量上升了30%。然而，情況并非糟糕透頂。巴克萊銀行表示，高價(jià)正幫助金融服務(wù)公司彌補(bǔ)損失。
All this explains the curious case of the U-Haul on the beach. But the firm is not the only alternative to rental cars. Lyft launched its own car-hire service in 2019, though it too admits that the chip shortage has hurt growth. Some are turning to ride-hailing apps, but prices per ride have spiked because of a lack of drivers. Outdoorsy, an rv rental platform, has seen bookings for its smaller offerings—such as Jeeps and trucks— increase by 10% year-on-year. It seems that the rental car market would have to get even tighter for Americans to fall in love with public transport.
所有這些都解釋了海灘上U-Haul的離奇事件。但這家公司并不是租車(chē)的唯一選擇。2019年，Lyft推出了自己的租車(chē)服務(wù)，不過(guò)該公司也承認(rèn)芯片短缺損害了增長(zhǎng)。有些人轉(zhuǎn)向叫車(chē)應(yīng)用，但由于缺少司機(jī)，每次搭車(chē)的價(jià)格已經(jīng)飆升。房車(chē)租賃平臺(tái)Outdoorsy其較小的車(chē)型，如吉普車(chē)和卡車(chē)的預(yù)訂量同比增長(zhǎng)了10%。看來(lái)只有汽車(chē)租賃市場(chǎng)變得更緊湊，美國(guó)人才會(huì)愛(ài)上公共交通。
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