Business travelers say they lose lots of time sitting in traffic
By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY, 7/25/2007
Flight delays and cancellations aren't the only problems that cost travelers valuable work time on business trips. Significant time is also wasted in motor vehicles, a survey of business travelers shows.
Business travelers who rent autos often waste an average of 1½ hours per trip stuck in traffic, getting lost and waiting to pay tolls, according to the survey, which Avis is releasing this week at the National Business Travel Association's annual convention in Boston.
More than 80% of 6,300 Avis customers who responded to the survey say they spend an average of 44 minutes stuck in traffic during a three-day business trip. At least half of those who responded say another half an hour is wasted getting lost, and 12 minutes go down the drain while in line to pay tolls. More than 42,000 business travelers who rent Avis vehicles were asked in May to fill out the survey.
"Any lost time on the road is a productivity issue for companies," says Caleb Tiller, spokesman for the National Business Travel Association, which represents about 2,500 travel managers and suppliers. "When employees are on the road, companies want them working — not sitting in traffic."
Survey respondents predictably said that flight and airport security delays waste the most time, but the survey showed what other time can be lost, Avis officials say.
"A lot of people focus on the delays of getting to a destination, but there's a fairly substantial amount of productivity that gets lost after you arrive," Avis spokesman John Barrows says.
Avis says additional products it rents to customers, such as electronic toll-collection devices and a navigation system that provides alternate routes in traffic, can help customers avoid wasting time on the road. Rivals also rent navigation systems and toll-collection devices.
Mark Doyle, an asset protection consultant in Fruitland Park, Fla., says he loses at least an hour a day stuck in traffic and "much more" time if visiting multiple clients.
"Cities like Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Detroit can be real bad some days, a real waste of time on a business trip," he says.
Frequent traveler Jeff Price of Lawrence, Kan., says he usually spends about five minutes in traffic on business trips because he schedules flights to arrive after rush hour and stays at hotels near where he does business.
LOST TIME ON BUSINESS TRIPS
Many car rental customers lose time stuck in traffic, waiting in toll lines
and getting lost, according to an Avis customer survey:
During trip with car rental, how much time is spent on:
% who reported time spent
Avg. time spent (mins.)
% who say this is very or extremely inconvenient
Sitting in traffic while driving
81%
43.9
52%
Waiting in line to pay transit tolls
55%
12.4
23%
Getting lost while driving
50%
30.3
41%
Source: Avis e-mail survey in May of 42,414 business travelers who rent from Avis; 6,303 travelers responded.