Maryland Sets A Cap On Refueling Fees

The state of Maryland recently announced that they would be enforcing a new cap on refueling costs for the rental companies. As the economy slowed, so did the business of much of the rental industry, causing high prices, especially in the refueling department. Now, car renters have to factor in the cost of the refueling charge in their car rental budget, as before it really was not that much of a factor. The state of Maryland noticed this and decided the best way to handle the situation is to put a cap on the refueling fees. Since the cap, the rental car companies agreed to lower the refueling fee by 133 percent, some even going as high as 142 percent.

There are some mixed feelings amongst the rental car companies about the cap, saying that it is not entirely fair to put a cap on refueling costs. Some in the rental car community say that not only are the caps unfair, but also interfere with free trade. One of the first companies to comply with the cap was Hertz, dropping their refueling fee to a flat fee of $6.99. Other companies, such as Avis and Thrifty Dollar, are "taking a close look" at the flat fees that Hertz applied to their refueling fee, but are not applying that kind of policy as of yet.