By Fleet Management Weekly Staff
January 21, 2026
In the fleet world, vehicle rental is rarely as flexible or expedient as managers need. When a vehicle breaks down or business scales faster than anticipated, fleet managers need to source ready-to-work vans quickly and conveniently. As it stands, most rental companies still rely on slow, outdated technology that has defined them for decades. Some vehicles take months to acquire and upfit, but Kingbee Vans is flipping the script by using modern technology to deliver work-ready vans within weeks.
Scott Haslam, Kingbee
Kingbee upfits, wraps, and delivers fleet vans within two weeks, then rents them on a monthly basis. The flexibility and speed of their process enable fleets to scale as needed. The secret to Kingbee’s success has been a combination of modern innovation and, interestingly enough, the principles of rave culture.
Scott Haslam, founder and CEO of Kingbee, built the company around PLUR, the core mantra of rave culture: Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect. This has helped him not only create a positive work environment for his employees but also improve gross profits for Kingbee from $2.6 million in 2021 to greater than $51 million in 2024, while expanding its fleet to more than 6200 work-ready vans deployed nationwide in that timeframe.
We interviewed Scott to learn more about Kingbee’s principles and how the company is disrupting the rental space.
Tell us about Kingbee. What inspired you to create the company, and how did you get started?
Kingbee grew out of my experience building businesses in the commercial automotive space, where I worked primarily in upfitting, wraps, and signage. Over time, I saw a gap in the commercial value space: customers needed vehicles faster than the traditional upfitting and wrap process allowed. So we combined businesses to deliver a faster turnaround product. While the upfitting and wrap businesses were regional, we saw a larger opportunity to provide work-ready vehicles quickly at scale.
The concept for Kingbee vans was simple: upfit, wrap, and deliver. We funded the vehicles and equipped them with standard packages, such as shelving or ladder racks, to increase their utility. Other rental companies weren’t doing that—they were just offering a temporary Band-Aid box on wheels. Our goal was to provide a more customizable product with better utility.
In 2021, we bought our first large group of vans and approached some of my existing upfitting clients, including the major residential solar company Sunrun. They loved the concept, especially the ability to get vehicles quickly and on a flexible contract structure. That allowed them to scale their business more quickly than the traditional process, which in 2021 took around 12 months. It’s since been shortened but hasn’t improved much.
Our goal was to deliver a fully outfitted vehicle in two weeks. The caveat is that we own the vehicles and rent them to clients on a monthly basis, typically for 12- or 24-month terms. The model resonated, and our fleet quickly grew to several thousand vehicles.
You were a DJ before this. How has rave culture influenced the way you approach business?
What I love about building businesses is that it’s a creative process. You take an idea and sell it to others, bringing in employees, investors, and customers to help turn it into reality. Before I was an entrepreneur, I was a musician. I loved the creative process of touring, so as I was growing Kingbee, I felt I needed a different creative outlet.
That was when I started building a sound car, or an art car, as others may call it. I bought a large military truck and turned it into a fully fabricated machine. Because we have our own fabrication shop, I was able to go all in with massive speakers, lighting, and full production. It’s essentially a stage that can be taken anywhere—the mountains, under an overpass, or in a warehouse—and used to throw a party.
I love business and I love partying. The Ranger sound car started as a fun project, a chance to build a cool truck and play music. I’m not a professional DJ, but I DJ at the parties I throw. Sometimes I bring in international DJs for Ranger parties, which have varied from small gatherings of 50-100 people to events with 3,000+ attendees.
How does the mantra PLUR tie into what you’re doing at Kingbee?
PLUR is a common acronym in rave culture that stands for Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect. It reflects the idea that we’re all coming together to have a good time and to take care of one another. These two ideas resonate with me, and I believe they apply to all facets of life.
One thing I loved about building Kingbee was bringing people into an environment that was enjoyable and fun, where they found purpose and passion. The work may not always be fun, but our employees, which now number around 190, are far more likely to love their jobs when they’re earning a good living and working alongside other motivated people.
Many factors go into creating a good culture. Throwing a party or a rave is about more than production or artists; it’s about creating a positive-energy space that attracts the right people. As in business, you have to start with PLUR. If you apply those same principles, you’ll achieve the same positive results.
What’s next for Kingbee in 2026?
I’m really excited about 2026. Toward the very end of 2024, we acquired Fluid Truck, a company that streamlined the rental process with a peer-to-peer technology platform – they had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. We effectively integrated its assets into our operations. The process takes time, but now we have our feet under us.
The integration enabled us to scale like Airbnb or Turo by allowing third parties to list their vehicles on the platform for us to manage. That acquisition expanded our fleet from around 2,000 vehicles to (currently) over 7,500.
Since then, we’ve continued leveraging technology and relationships to grow Kingbee and continue disrupting the rental space. From the outset, we understood that our concept had the potential to be profoundly disruptive—not just in the rental space, but across the entire commercial vehicle sector.
We are moving into an economy driven by “right-now” demand. The rental space is interesting because it has a high barrier to entry that requires substantial capital and assets. That’s kept the space stagnant and inhibited innovation. The way one rents a car today is the same as it was 20 years ago. I’m excited to introduce a technology, product, and business operation that can grow and scale significantly with less capital intensity than traditional rental companies.
Kingbee can deliver a customer experience 10 times better than traditional rental companies. All a customer needs to do is take out their phone, open the app, select a vehicle, and they’re good to go. The customer takes photos of the vehicle with their phone, both after pickup and before drop-off. There’s no attendant to go through; it all runs through the technology. This could be the next phase of the rental industry. I’m excited to continue building a business that leads this evolution.
To find out how Kingbee can help expand your fleet with customized van rentals, click here.
