Over the course of my career as a remodeling contractor I’ve owned a few different work truck setups. I called an old van my “work truck” for a while, and upfitted it with a customized pullout tool storage rig. It did a sufficient job at hauling our tools around, but materials were always a hassle. I then hauled a trailer behind a traditional pickup for several years, but I learned over time that this isn’t a great option for the narrow roads and heavy traffic we contend with daily. As my company grew, my needs for tool storage did too, so a little over a year ago I bit the bullet and invested in a 3500 Ram ProMaster. It has plenty of room for tool storage, my guys and I can walk down the center aisle to easily locate tools and materials, and there’s tons of room to haul things like sheet goods – all without subjecting anything to the elements.
It took one of my lead carpenters and me about 5 days to upfit the van. I estimate that having things organized saves us each about 10 minutes a day based on previous experience with other companies, and old setups we had. Now, it takes us less than a minute to find something in the van. So, for me, the investment upfront in buildout and the organization is all worthy investment for the long-term. Because I’m fanatical in my need to be organized, I improved upon my various setups and settled on seven rules for organizing that hopefully will be of some use to those with similar work trucks.
