Quarterly Financial Information (Unaudited) (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Nov. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2012
Selected Quarterly Financial Information [Abstract]
Total revenues	$ 1,523,000,000	$ 1,508,000,000	$ 1,421,000,000	$ 1,310,000,000	$ 1,523,000,000	$ 1,550,000,000	$ 1,429,000,000	$ 1,315,000,000	$ 5,762,000,000	$ 5,817,000,000	$ 5,685,000,000
Gross profit	657,000,000	656,000,000	590,000,000	500,000,000	648,000,000	690,000,000	618,000,000	524,000,000	2,403,000,000	2,480,000,000	2,432,000,000
Operating income	402,000,000	412,000,000	347,000,000	254,000,000	397,000,000	446,000,000	375,000,000	300,000,000	1,415,000,000	1,518,000,000	1,391,000,000
Net income	$ 153,000,000	$ 187,000,000	$ 134,000,000	$ 92,000,000	$ 169,000,000	$ 215,000,000	$ 86,000,000	$ 115,000,000	$ 566,000,000	$ 585,000,000	$ 540,000,000
Earnings per share - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 1.82	$ 2.18	$ 1.52	$ 1.01	$ 1.82	$ 2.28	$ 0.89	$ 1.19	$ 6.49	$ 6.14	$ 5.54
Earnings per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	1.80	2.16	1.52	1.01	$ 1.81	2.25	0.88	1.16	$ 6.45	$ 6.07	$ 5.15
Effect of Fourth Quarter Events [Line Items]
Restructuring charge									$ 14,000,000	$ 6,000,000	$ (1,000,000)
Loss on extinguishment of debt									$ 101,000,000	123,000,000	$ 80,000,000
Decrease in stock compensation, net					$ 14,000,000
Refund from tax settlement					5,000,000					$ 5,000,000
Reduction in cost of equipment rentals, excluding depreciation					5,000,000
Increase in valuation allowance					$ 5,000,000
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, Other Disclosures [Abstract]
Merger related intangible asset amortization (in dollars per share)	(0.29)	(0.28)	(0.28)	(0.30)	$ (0.28)	(0.28)	(0.27)	(0.32)	$ (1.12)	$ (1.15)
Merger related costs (in dollars per share)					0.00	0.00	0.00	0.17		0.17
Impact on depreciation related to acquired RSC fleet and property and equipment (in dollars per share)					0.00	0.00	0.00	0.01		0.02
Impact of the fair value mark-up of acquired RSC fleet (in dollars per share)	(0.06)	(0.05)	(0.06)	(0.06)	(0.07)	(0.04)	(0.04)	(0.04)	(0.25)	(0.19)
Impact on interest expense related to fair value adjustment of acquired RSC indebtedness (in dollars per share)	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.02
Restructuring charge (in dollars per share)	(0.05)	(0.02)	(0.02)	(0.01)	(0.03)	0.00	0.00	0.00	(0.11)	(0.04)
Asset impairment charge (in dollars per share)	0.00	0.00	0.00	(0.02)					(0.03)
Loss on extinguishment of debt securities and amendment of ABL facility (in dollars per share)	$ (0.47)	$ (0.07)	$ (0.18)	$ 0.00	$ 0.00	$ 0.00	$ (0.76)	$ (0.01)	$ (0.70)	$ (0.78)
7 5/8 percent Senior Notes
Effect of Fourth Quarter Events [Line Items]
Stated interest rate	7.625%								7.625%
7 5/8 percent Senior Notes | Interest expense
Effect of Fourth Quarter Events [Line Items]
Loss on extinguishment of debt	$ 65,000,000
5 1/2 percent Senior Notes due 2027
Effect of Fourth Quarter Events [Line Items]
Stated interest rate	5.50%								5.50%
Senior notes | 7 5/8 percent Senior Notes
Effect of Fourth Quarter Events [Line Items]
Redemption of principal amount of debt									$ 850,000,000
Debt instrument, face amount													$ 1,325,000,000
Senior notes | 5 1/2 percent Senior Notes due 2027
Effect of Fourth Quarter Events [Line Items]
Debt instrument, face amount												$ 750,000,000
2015-2016 Cost Savings Restructuring Program
Effect of Fourth Quarter Events [Line Items]
Restructuring charge	$ 6,000,000				$ 4,000,000				$ 14,000,000	$ 4,000,000