Restructuring (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		60 Months Ended	63 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	63 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	63 Months Ended		3 Months Ended								3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012 Employee	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011 Employee	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012 Car Rental	Mar. 31, 2011 Car Rental	Dec. 31, 2008 Car Rental Location	Mar. 31, 2012 Car Rental	Mar. 31, 2012 Equipment Rental	Mar. 31, 2011 Equipment Rental	Dec. 31, 2008 Equipment Rental Branch	Mar. 31, 2012 Equipment Rental	Mar. 31, 2012 Other	Mar. 31, 2012 Direct operating	Mar. 31, 2011 Direct operating	Mar. 31, 2012 Selling, general and administrative	Mar. 31, 2011 Selling, general and administrative	Mar. 31, 2012 Involuntary termination benefits M	Mar. 31, 2011 Involuntary termination benefits	Mar. 31, 2012 Pension and post retirement expense	Dec. 31, 2011 Pension and post retirement expense	Mar. 31, 2012 Consultant costs	Mar. 31, 2011 Consultant costs	Mar. 31, 2012 Asset writedowns	Mar. 31, 2011 Asset writedowns	Mar. 31, 2012 Facility closure and lease obligation costs	Mar. 31, 2011 Facility closure and lease obligation costs	Mar. 31, 2012 Facility closures	Mar. 31, 2012 Other	Mar. 31, 2012 Foreign currency translation
Restructuring details
Number of off-airport locations closed							250
Number of branches in U.S. equipment rental segment closed											22
Number of employees impacted	65		8,960
Restructuring charges incurred to date				$ 539.9				$ 261.5				$ 225.7	$ 52.7
Restructuring charges	9.4	4.9			5.2	1.0			4.2	3.9				7.6	4.3	1.8	0.6	2.7	1.0			0.2	0.1	2.7	0.7	3.8	3.1
Increase (decrease) in loss per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.02	$ 0.01
Expected duration for payment of restructuring obligations (in months)																		12
Restructuring reserve
Restructuring reserve, Balance at beginning of period	21.6																	9.1		0.2	0.2	0.6							11.7
Charges incurred	9.4																	2.7				0.2							6.5
Cash payments	(3.0)																	(2.1)				(0.1)							(0.8)
Other	(5.8)																	0.3				(0.1)		2.7				3.4	(6.0)	0.3
Restructuring reserve, Balance at end of period	$ 22.2		$ 21.6	$ 22.2														$ 10.0		$ 0.2	$ 0.2	$ 0.6							$ 11.4