The Simplest Way to Explain What Happened
An attorney we spoke with used a simple analogy that pretty much sums up why we felt this business relationship was no longer worth continuing.
Imagine three people agree to get lunch together. You give one person money toward the lunch. Instead, that person comes back, eats the lunch in front of you, and says: “I used the money you gave me to buy MYSELF lunch, because I decided you probably would have spent your money on something else anyway.”
That is exactly how the situation felt from our side. Two members dedicated over a year of work, then once the brand was established, website and marketing completed and app close to launching, one member decided to remove the other 2 members without their consent. And if that wasn’t enough, he then hit them with a 217 page contract stating how the 2 removed members will now have to acknowledge him as the one and only founder / member. Yes, greed and selfishness can bring out the worst in people.
THE TIMELINE:
April 8, 2025
Preem Transport LLC Is Formed
Preem Transport LLC was officially formed in Hawaii.
The original Articles of Organization identified the company as an at-will, member-managed LLC and listed three individuals as its initial members.
Neither of the two other original members recalls receiving or signing an Operating Agreement governing Preem Transport LLC before the events described below.
Over the following year, the three original members worked together to develop DRVU.
Two of those members contributed substantial work toward the project, including the DRVU website, branding, marketing materials, application development, and source code.
The work was performed under the understanding that the three individuals were building DRVU together through Preem Transport LLC.
2025–2026
More Than a Year Is Spent Building DRVU
Development of DRVU continued for more than a year.
One member handled the website development, branding, creative direction, and marketing materials.
Another member handled the development of the DRVU application and source code.
The third member focused primarily on the business concept, transportation model, and operational direction of DRVU.
Throughout this period, the three individuals continued working together under the original member-managed structure.
July 6, 2026
A 2026 Annual Report for Preem Transport LLC was received by the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
The Annual Report continued to identify Preem Transport LLC as “Member-managed.”
However, under the section requesting the company’s managers or members, only one individual was listed.
The other two individuals identified as original members in the company’s formation documents were no longer listed.
The Other Two Members Were Not Informed
According to the two omitted original members, neither had been notified beforehand that their names would no longer appear as members on the 2026 Annual Report.
Before the filing, neither individual had:
- voluntarily withdrawn from Preem Transport LLC;
- signed a resignation;
- transferred his membership interest;
- agreed to a buyout; or
- knowingly relinquished his membership.
Both individuals state that they continued to understand themselves to be members of Preem Transport LLC before discovering the change.
The original Articles of Organization identified three members of the member-managed LLC. The July 6, 2026 Annual Report identified only one.
The central unresolved question is therefore: What legal basis, if any, existed for the Annual Report to identify only one member when neither of the other two original members had knowingly or voluntarily relinquished his membership?
The Annual Report Is Certified as True and Correct
The 2026 Annual Report identifying only one member was signed by the individual listed on the report.
The accompanying declaration certified that the filing had been read, that the information provided was true and correct, and that the signer was authorized to sign it.
At the time, the other two original members maintain that neither had voluntarily withdrawn, signed a resignation, transferred his membership interest, agreed to a buyout, or knowingly relinquished his membership. They also state that neither had been notified beforehand that his name would no longer appear as a member on the Annual Report.
*Why the Certification Matters
Hawaii law provides potential penalties under HRS §428-1302 for signing or certifying certain documents filed under Chapter 428 when information contained in the filing is materially false. The nature of any potential penalty depends upon the circumstances, including the knowledge of the person signing or certifying the document.
Accordingly, if either omitted individual was still legally a member when the Annual Report was filed, the accuracy of a filing identifying only one member—and its certification as true and correct *raises a legal question.
No allegation is being made here that the signer committed a crime or violated HRS §428-1302. Whether the filing contained materially false information, and whether any knowledge or intent required by the statute existed, are legal and factual questions that have not been determined.
What is documented is simply this:
The original Articles of Organization identified three members. The July 6, 2026 Annual Report identified one. The filing was certified as true and correct, and the two omitted original members maintain that neither had knowingly or voluntarily relinquished his membership before the filing.
August 10, 2026
A Proposed 217-Page Agreement Is Presented
More than a month after the Annual Report was received by DCCA, the two omitted original members were presented with a proposed 217-page agreement concerning Preem Transport LLC and DRVU.
The proposed agreement identified the remaining individual as:
Founder
Sole Owner
Sole Member
It further stated that the other two individuals had no present ownership, membership, equity, voting, management, distributional, or other ownership-related interests in the company.
The proposed agreement contained extensive provisions addressing company ownership, intellectual property, source code, application materials, and other rights associated with DRVU.
Due to such an egregious act by the remaining individual, neither of the two individuals agreed to those terms and both refused to sign the agreement.
The Original Members Object
After reviewing the proposed agreement and discovering that the 2026 Annual Report listed only one member, the two omitted original members objected to the change.
During the subsequent written discussion, the remaining member explained:
“I had to structure myself as the sole owner.”
The two omitted members disputed that one member had the authority to unilaterally determine that their membership and ownership interests no longer existed, particularly when neither had knowingly or voluntarily agreed to give up those interests.
Neither individual had previously signed a resignation, membership transfer, buyout agreement, or other document knowingly relinquishing his interest in Preem Transport LLC.
Neither signed the proposed August 10 agreement or agreed to recognize the remaining individual as the sole owner or sole member of Preem Transport LLC.
After more than a year of the three individuals working together to develop DRVU, the way these events were handled resulted in a complete loss of trust and the breakdown of their working relationship.
August 12, 2026
DRVU Reappears Under a New Website
A new DRVU website appeared at DRVU.now.
The website continued to associate DRVU with Preem Transport LLC, while the remaining individual was publicly presented as “Sole Founder and CEO.”
The two other individuals identified as original members in the company’s formation documents were not identified on the new website.
Neither was participating in the development or operation of that website.
August 14, 2026
The Hawaii Business Registration Division Is Contacted
The two original participants contacted the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ Business Registration Division (BREG) regarding the membership information appearing in the public record.
BREG explained that current member information can be updated through an Officer/Director/Member/Manager Change (ODC) filing.
BREG did not provide a legal opinion regarding whether the 2026 Annual Report violated Hawaii law or whether the disputed membership changes were legally valid, explaining that those questions were outside its administrative role.
This conversation is included only to document the administrative information provided by BREG and should not be interpreted as a legal determination by DCCA regarding the underlying membership dispute.
Today
Where DRVU Stands
The original working relationship among the three individuals involved in developing DRVU has ended.
The two original participants responsible for developing the original website, branding, marketing materials, application, and code are no longer participating in the current development, maintenance, management, or operation of DRVU.
After more than a year of working together, the way these events unfolded resulted in a complete loss of trust between the parties.
For that reason, those two individuals have chosen to part ways with the current DRVU operation and move forward separately.
Any current or future DRVU website, application, product, or service should therefore not be understood as being developed, maintained, operated, or endorsed by those two individuals.
Questions concerning the legal membership or ownership of Preem Transport LLC remain unresolved by this timeline.
Moving Forward
While our involvement in DRVU’s development has come to an end, our passion for building and creating hasn’t.
The two of us have since shifted our focus toward other projects, including Phresh (phresh.app), a social platform designed to encourage meaningful connections beyond the screen, and LoadMaxer (loadmaxer.com), a platform being developed to help independent truck drivers find loads and make more informed decisions.
Both projects represent something we’ve always enjoyed doing: taking an idea and working together to bring it to life.
DRVU may not have ended the way we originally envisioned, but it hasn’t stopped us from moving forward.
Why This Timeline Exists
This timeline isn’t being published to continue a dispute. It’s being published so our side of what happened is documented, and so we can close this chapter and move forward.
We invested more than a year of our time, work, and creativity into DRVU because we believed in what the three of us were building together.
We’re proud of the work we contributed.
But our involvement with the current DRVU operation ends here.
Disclaimer: This timeline is not intended to defame, slander, harass, or personally attack anyone. It documents events surrounding DRVU based on publicly available business records, written communications, contractual documents, and the firsthand experiences of those involved. Where an issue remains legally unresolved, it is identified as such. Readers are encouraged to review the documented facts and draw their own conclusions.
*We believe anyone considering a business relationship involving DRVU or Preem Transport LLC should have the opportunity to understand the events that led to the breakdown of its original three-member working relationship. That’s why we’ve made this timeline publicly available. We encourage readers to review the documented events below, consider how the situation was handled from our perspective, and draw their own conclusions. As for us, the trust is gone, and we’ve chosen to move forward separately.