A 5-gallon bucket might be fine for lugging tip-ups to your favorite ice-fishing hole, but it’s no way to stow parts and tools in a drain-cleaning service truck or van. A well-organized vehicle can save time and money. It also ensures that tools won’t disappear on the jobsite, and it might even save a life in case of a sudden stop or crash.
An orderly, mobile, tool and supply center also reflects well on your company as a provider of quality work and prompt service.
Starting out new
For some contractors, the optimum way to get organized is to buy a new truck or van with all the amenities installed. “We have a program with GM, where if you buy a cargo van, you get our product free,” says Shawn Buckland, marketing assistant manager with Adrian Steel Co. in Adrian, Mich.
Under the program, called GMC Business Choice, buyers of Chevrolet Express or Uplander vans, Chevy Silverado and Colorado pickups, GMC Savana vans or GMC Sierra and Canyon pickups can choose from a variety of upfits by Adrian Steel.
Packages range from ladder racks and liners to cargo, access and door units, as well as job-specific plumbing, heating and HVAC packages. GM also offers new-vehicle buyers the option of receiving up to $1,000 in upfit cash. Ford also offers a Commercial Connection rebate program on its new vans and trucks.
Dave Jacobs, branch manager for Commercial Van Interiors of St. Louis, Mo., says many of his customers come through the GM program. “If you go into a dealership and purchase an empty unit, and you qualified for the program, you would get a free upfit,” he says. “And that upfit would be done by Commercial Van Interiors or an Adrian Steel distributor in your area.”
With record fuel prices a not-so-distant memory, manufacturers also are rolling out smaller cargo vehicles, such as the Chevy HHR, offering up to 30 miles per gallon, and the European-engineered Ford Transit, with an estimated 24 mpg.
The tradeoff is less cargo capacity: The Transit offers 143 cubic feet, versus 271 for its full-size E-350. Contractors who need more space might consider adding a trailer when needs arise, or placing a temporary storage box on the jobsite, such as the 48-cubic-foot Piano Monster Box from Knaack LLC.
Tricking out the old
If a new vehicle isn’t in your budget, professional upfitters can work with you to outfit an existing vehicle. A top-quality system can range from about $800 for a single-drawer shelf and bulkhead package to several thousand dollars plus installation for a larger package and ladder rack.
Buckland says contractors can visit the Adrian Steel Web site (www.adriansteel.com) to view products and locate a distributor that can help with product selection, provide a computerized CAD drawing of the finished product, and install the system.
“We sell to Ford, Dodge and Chevy,” Buckland says. “We’re not manufacturer- specific. So it doesn’t matter what you buy – our product can always be used.”
Michael Ostrowski, senior product manager for Knaack LLC of Crystal Lake, Ill., owner of the Weather Guard truck equipment brand and a member of the Emerson Professional Tools family, says his company also has hundreds of distributors that can be found on its Web site (www.knaack.com).
Dave Turnquist, manager for Industrial Ladder and Supply Company Inc. of Villa Park, Ill., distributor of Knaack, Weather Guard and Adrian Steel products, says time and convenience are among the reasons to consider a professional installation.
“We have the tools to do the job quicker,” he says. “And our labor rates are pretty good. A guy out making $20 to $30 an hour doesn’t have time to be putting in his own shelving nowadays.”
Hands-on installs
For those who prefer to do the work themselves, Weather Guard offers a four-step, 3-D van design tool on its Web site (www.weatherguard.com/VS) that enables contractors to choose their van, select their trade, place modules and accessories from among 150 standard building blocks, and view the results from various angles.
Ostrowski says do-it-yourselfers also have the advantage of mixing and matching accessories that otherwise might not all be available through a single installer. “And they can take a certain pride in doing it their way,” he says. “Typically, this equipment is not difficult to install.”
Whether you prefer the convenience of a professional installation or the satisfaction of doing it yourself, one item to include is a partition or bulkhead. “In sudden stops, equipment can come forward,” Ostrowski says. “A drain machine or other device can become a lethal projectile. A bulkhead has to be substantial enough to provide what we think of in the industry as ‘ballistic protection.’”
Bulkheads come with expanded metal screens or windows. “Some manufacturers put the window in the center; others may put it behind the passenger seat and the center, but not behind the driver,” Ostrowski says. “Again, the concern is in a frontal accident. A 30-mph object can easily go through just about anyone’s window, including the side windows and the windshield in the vehicle itself.”
Bulkheads for safety
Ostrowski says another concern is security at the jobsite, on the street or at the shop. “Clearly, these vehicles are targets for break-ins and theft,” he says. “The bulkhead allows a certain measure of protection, so if a contractor leaves the driver door or passenger door open or the window down, the entire back area can still be locked.”
And then there’s the productivity factor. “The key for most people is organization,” Ostrowski says. “If you picture an empty van and a contractor who uses 5-gallon plastic buckets or boxes, typically things are on the floor rather than up and out of the way. And it’s difficult to stay organized.”
Jemrack Equipment LLC of Reedsburg, Wis., quantifies that productivity at $90 per day. The company’s Web site (www.jemrack.com) estimates that a well-organized van can cut restocking time in half and claims technicians can save 10 minutes per call when they don’t have to search for tools and parts. At six calls a day, that adds up to a lost seventh call, or a lost $50 service fee and $40 in lost profit from parts and equipment.
Ostrowski says a well-organized vehicle also reflects on your business and you as a professional. Someone who shows up in a 10-year-old pickup or van that has everything spread all over the floor and a homemade ladder rack is not projecting a professional image. “For virtually all professional trades, that image is extremely important,” he says.
When it comes to organizing, Weather Guard offers Pack Rat floor or truck bed drawer units that slide out the back or side. The units have a load rating of 425 pounds. They can support a generator and be walked on. The company also offers low-profile side and saddle boxes and Hi-Side toolboxes for pickup trucks. Products for cargo vans include welded E-Z cube and knockdown jumbo shelving and knockdown shelving accessories.
Adrian Steel recently rolled out AD Series cargo units with adjustable shelves, adaptable rail system, heavy-duty shelves, and stamped-steel end panels. The rail system lets users reposition shelving in 1-inch increments. Dividers snap into place, drawer units bolt in, and door kits can be added to lock parts and equipment.
