High-Tech Types Need Plenty of Wheels

“High Volume Microwave Applications” and “Software Validation and Verification” don’t exactly sound like box-office hits, but they are drawing big crowds in San Francisco this week--so big, in fact, that nearly every rental car in the Bay Area is booked.

Hertz, Avis and National rental car companies said no cars were available without reservations on Tuesday, the first day of the annual Wescon electronics trade show and convention in the Bay Area. Attendance is estimated at 55,000, making it the biggest convention to descend on San Francisco this year.

To satisfy the demand for rental cars, Hertz, Avis and National brought in cars from rental locations as far away as San Jose and Stockton, creating temporary shortages in those locations as well. The rental car companies said several thousand cars are out but added that the exact numbers are confidential.

The electronics convention at the Moscone Center continues through Thursday, when the electronics salespeople and engineers pack up their collections of resistors, transistors, silicon chips, oscillators and other electronic components. Hertz and Avis expect tight car supplies until then; National said it expects to have some cars available today.