Rollx Vans Celebrating 45 Years

March 7th 1978, the day Wade and Nancy’s son Tony died in a tragic ski accident. It was a horrific day for the Harris family and friends, it was also a day that bettered the lives of thousands of people with disabilities nationwide.

When Tony, was killed in a tragic ski accident in 1978, Wade searched to find meaning in his death. He and his wife, Nancy, donated their son’s memorials to fund a small transportation company for the disabled and senior communities. He pledged two fully accessible Dodge vans and $50,000. Handicapped and Senior Citizen’s Transportation Service (HSCTS) was created. Over the next three years, HSCTS provided more than 680,000 free rides to wheelchair users and senior citizens in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Wade and Nancy saw an unmet need in the mobility industry and started modifying vehicles for wheelchair and scooter users.

In October of 1992, Associated Leasing proudly introduced a fully accessible crash tested and certified Chrysler minivan. This totally changed the industry where the larger full size vans dominated the market.

Driver and passenger transfer seats had been around for several years. These took up a lot of space inside the vehicle and hard if not impossible to maneuver around with a wheelchair. In 1995 Rollx introduce the first and still the only compact trackless design seat base that allowed for safe and convenient transfers from a wheelchair to the driver or passenger seats.

Associated Leasing evolved into a substantial manufacturing company that modified full-sized and minivans for people in wheelchairs. It was time to change the name from Associated Leasing and Handicapable Vans to what is known today as Rollx Vans.

In 1996, Rollx Vans introduced the industry first, at-home service program by strategically placing field technicians throughout the country. This program continues to give our customers the ultimate service, without leaving their home.

By this time Rollx Van had outgrown our current facility and were no longer able to keep up with production. In 1996, we moved to an 85,000 square foot plant and installed an assembly line process which increased production and the quality of our products.

In 2004, Wade and Nancy created a charitable program within Rollx Vans called Wounded Warriors. The program has provided the free use of wheelchair accessible vans to veterans returning from service in Afghanistan and Iraq who were injured and required lengthy hospitalization and rehabilitation. The program allowed many veterans to return home with their families much sooner and have transportation to and from rehabilitation sites and medical clinics. To date, more than 200 injured veterans have been helped through this program.

Rollx Vans was proud of the Quality and Safety of our wheelchair accessible vans and wanted the certifications to back it up. In 2014, Rollx achieved the Quality Management Standards of ISO. ISO enabled us to compete in national and international markets. We wanted to be ahead of the industry and ISO Certification was beyond industry standards.

2017 Rollx Vans Crash Tested the new Chrysler Pacifica. What does that mean exactly? It means our vans can stand up against the rest. If that does not prove our commitment to safety, then we don’t know what will.

In 2017, Rollx Vans was the first to offer our 7 year, 100,000 mile warranty on our structural integrity. This is the longest structural warranty in the industry and we’re confident in our promise!

In 2018 Rollx Vans was the first manufacturer or dealer to introduce FREE at home delivery and set up. This was included on all new and used accessible vehicles. This allowed us to become the leader in the national market and aligned well with our at-home service program.