Restructuring (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended				60 Months Ended	75 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	75 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	75 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013		Jun. 30, 2012 employee	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011 employee	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013 Car Rental	Mar. 31, 2012 Car Rental	Dec. 31, 2008 Car Rental location	Mar. 31, 2013 Car Rental	Mar. 31, 2013 Equipment Rental	Mar. 31, 2012 Equipment Rental	Dec. 31, 2008 Equipment Rental branch	Mar. 31, 2013 Equipment Rental	Mar. 31, 2013 Other	Mar. 31, 2013 Other reconciling items	Mar. 31, 2012 Other reconciling items	Mar. 31, 2013 Direct operating	Mar. 31, 2012 Direct operating	Mar. 31, 2013 Selling, general and administrative	Mar. 31, 2012 Selling, general and administrative	Mar. 31, 2013 Termination benefits		Mar. 31, 2012 Termination benefits	Mar. 31, 2013 Pension and post retirement expense		Mar. 31, 2013 Consultant costs		Mar. 31, 2012 Consultant costs	Mar. 31, 2013 Facility closure and lease obligation costs	Mar. 31, 2012 Facility closure and lease obligation costs	Mar. 31, 2013 Facility closures	Mar. 31, 2013 Foreign currency translation	Mar. 31, 2013 Other
Restructuring details
Number of off-airport locations closed									250
Number of branches in U.S. equipment rental segment closed													22
Number of employees impacted			50		9,610
Restructuring charges incurred to date						$ 572.1				$ 285.8				$ 230.8	$ 55.5
Restructuring charges	3.7			6.7			3.1	3.5			0.5	3.2				0.1	0	1.4	4.9	2.3	1.8	2.3		2.7			0.3		0.2	1.1	3.8
Increase (decrease) in income per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01			$ 0.02
Expected duration for payment of restructuring obligations																						12 months
Restructuring reserve
Restructuring reserve, Balance at beginning of period	21.0																					12.4			0.2		0.3							8.1
Charges incurred	3.7																					2.3			0		0.3							1.1
Cash payments	(6.9)																					(5.7)			0		(0.4)							(0.8)
Other	(1.6)	[1]																				(0.3)	[1]		0	[1]	0	[1]				1.3	0.3	(1.3)	[1]
Restructuring reserve, Balance at end of period	$ 16.2					$ 16.2																$ 8.7			$ 0.2		$ 0.2							$ 7.1

[1] Primarily consists of increases of $1.3 million for facility closures and $0.3 million for foreign currency translation.