I'm pleased that Hertz is getting out of the gas gouging business. Maybe that field has just gotten too competitive lately. It's getting harder to shock Americans with preposterous gas prices. Rental car companies have been charging insane gas rates -- almost what you'd pay in Europe at the pump -- for years. Consumers think of it as their evil little profit center, like phone charges at hotels.

In a story at USAToday, the industry claims that it's only overcharging to scare people into bringing the car back full, so they don't have to hassle with storing the fuel and filling up cars. So why don't they charge that rate for prepaid gas? USAToday did a survey and found that rental car companies sold pre-paid gas at about $4 a gallon, but charged about $8 when someone returned the car less than full.

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Hertz giving up on fuel gouging, more rental car companies may follow originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.