Fluid Truck Stole $11 Million in Sales Proceeds From Vehicle Investors, Class Action Lawsuit Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Fluid Truck has stolen more than $11 million in sales proceeds from entities who rented out and sold their fleets through the commercial vehicle rental platform.

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According to the 18-page lawsuit, Fluid Truck’s vehicle investor program enables individuals and small business owners to purchase commercial fleets to rent out on its mobile app and website. Fluid Truck also allows owners to decommission their vehicles when they reach a certain age or exceed certain mileage limits, the filing explains.

As part of its decommissioning policy, the defendant promises to try to sell vehicles on the owner’s behalf through a third-party auction service and return most of the proceeds to the owner after deducting certain fees and repair costs, the complaint relays.

However, the case accuses Fluid Truck and three higher-ups of running a “corrupt and widespread theft scheme” to keep decommissioned vehicle sale proceeds from their rightful owners.

The plaintiff, a small, Colorado-based business, says it gradually purchased and rented out a fleet of 47 vehicles after joining Fluid Truck’s investor program in 2020. Per the filing, Fluid Truck sold 14 vehicles on behalf of the plaintiff between February and June 2024.

Though Fluid Truck openly acknowledged in an email that it owed the business $178,216 for those sales, the company has refused to repay these fund, the class action claims.

The suit alleges Fluid Truck has misappropriated more than $11 million from vehicle owners to support its failing business. In an August 2024 email to vehicle investors, Fluid Truck’s interim CEO, co-defendant Thomas Scott Avila, revealed that the company was “facing significant financial challenges” and was “unable to process arrears payments, including insurance claim payouts and monies owed for vehicle sales,” the filing says.

Although Avila stated that payments for vehicle sales would be paid in a timely manner moving forward, a Fluid Truck investor allegedly informed the plaintiff in October 2024 that the defendant “fully intends and is resolved to keep the sales proceeds stolen from [the business]” and other investor program participants, the lawsuit relays.

Also named as defendants are James Eberhard, Fluid Truck’s former CEO, and Jenifer Snyder, former general counsel of Fluid Truck. Both resigned from their executive roles in July 2024 but remain on the company’s board of directors, the case says.

The complaint claims Fluid Truck and its investors intend to continue the alleged scheme and avoid repaying truck owners by “gaming the system.”

“[T]heir plan is to place Fluid Truck into bankruptcy, invest a portion of $20 million into Kingbee Rentals, and then have Kingbee Rentals buy Fluid Truck’s assets out of bankruptcy,” the suit alleges.

The Fluid Truck lawsuit looks to represent any Fluid Vehicle Investor Platform owners in the United States who requested the decommissioning of their vehicles from Fluid Truck, had their vehicles sold by the company and have not been paid the sales proceeds and other amounts due and owing from the sales of their vehicles.

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