For a while now, the future of rental-car companies has appeared bleak. Whether because arriving passengers are opting for Uber at airports or because younger drivers prefer car-sharing services that offer hourly rates, traditional rental-car companies have been battered by the ongoing shift in the way people move around. Stock prices have followed: Hertz has seen share prices decline by nearly half since the start of the year, while Avis has lost more than half its value over the past three years.
What rental-car companies have retained through that tumult, however, is an expertise in maintaining large fleets of vehicles. That may offer a path forward.
On Monday, Avis announced it has reached an agreement with Waymo, the self-driving-technology company spun out from Google late last year, in which Avis will offer fleet support and maintenance services to Waymo?s autonomous vehicles. The collaboration will begin in Phoenix, where Waymo is already operating 100 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans as part of a pilot project that puts these vehicles in the hands of ordinary motorists. There are plans for an additional 500 autonomous minivans in the Waymo fleet, and the partnership will ensure these vehicles are ready for motorists to use around the clock.

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This isn?t the first time Avis has attempted to reckon with the changes ahead in travel preferences and modes.
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The timeline for the arrival of the additional vehicles isn’t clear, but with 600 vehicles, Waymo?s aut...