Newcomer Blacksford is disrupting the RV rental market by creating a platform of rentable Winnebago-converted Mercedes-Benz Sprinters based out of airports.
The company was founded by Jonathan Distad, who originally ran an IT business before deciding to pivot to the camper van and RV rental industry.
The idea for the Blacksford platform came after Distad realized that RV rental systems were too closely correlated with the "RV sales experience" that was known to "nickel and dime" consumers. According to Distad, this creates an uncomfortable rental experience for RV customers.
This realization, coupled with his prior difficult experience trying to rent an RV for a family vacation, inspired the start of Blacksford.
"The founders of Uber weren't taxi drivers," Distad said. 'They just said, 'there's got to be a better way to do it,' and that's pretty much the approach that we took. "
According to Distad, Blacksford — which first started its operations around mid to late 2018 — was designed around the way he wanted to rent an RV.
"Being a technology guy, I, from the get-go, was just hell-bent on making sure that it had amazing technology and amazing customer service," Distad told Business Insider. "I was befuddled by the pricing [in my prior experience], so I said, 'Screw it, we're just going to include everything so people don't have to worry about mileage or generator fees or 'am I going to buy kitchen kits or bedding kits?''"
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