You're right about Budget. They have an FAQ section where they say how they love one-ways between corporate stores. Then it immediately says, "How do I know if it's a corporate store?" The customer is directed to click the link that asks for a location code or location lookup, and they tell you. So for instance in the NY area, almost everybody's corporate. The mix of license plates from all over the place at my local Budget and all the others I've seen attests to this. But if you click on MCI (Kansas City), or BUF (Buffalo), it says independent licensee.

My neighborhood Avis has a sign saying "operated by xxx Rental Car." And they confirmed that the Avis system for off-airport locations is a franchise operator tapping into a corporate fleet. Of course they like this better than the way it used to be when they owned specific cars, because now one-ways are a big source of their revenue. The agent was practically grinning the day I returned a roundtrip rental, because a PA Cobalt and a ME Versa had just come in early that morning.

Hertz has mostly corporate stores, with a few independent licensees scattered in rural boondocks. I don't know how they split the revenue on one-ways, other than whenever I bring them one, they're smiling from ear to ear and eager to punch out the transaction so they can get paid.

National getting rid of the independent licensees should hopefully bring down at least a bit their one-way rates, which typically are higher than everybody else.