Expert: Lynn Houston - 7/3/2009

Question
A truck can be rented from Basic Rental for $50 per day plus $0.20 per mile. Roadrunners charges $20 per day plus $0.50 per mile to rent the same truck. How many miles must be driven in a day to make the rental cost for Basic Rental a better deal than that for Roadrunners?

Answer
50 + .2x < 20 + .5x
30 < .3x
100 < x or x > 100

You would need to drive over 100 miles per day to make Basic a better deal.  You can easily check the answer by taking a number lower than 100 and inserting it for x and a number higher than 100 (and 100 if you want to confirm that the prices are = at that amt).