Pimping Your Truck

Its wire shelving is zinc-plated and rust-free. Its Cargo Protection Packages and Duraliners help protect cargo. It also offers HPDE wall panels and headliner to control climate and road noise.

Space-saving

If you're in the market for a new truck and looking to upgrade in both space and organization, a walk-in truck or step van might be what you need. Used traditionally for delivery, these box trucks offer plenty of space for equipment, a workspace and even an office.

Consider this example: An integrator sets up a workbench in the back of his 14-foot truck. On the bench, he has a vise so he can thread or saw pipe. In addition to having a workspace in tow, he can haul hundreds of parts, fittings and equipment in the truck, alleviating the need to go back and forth for missing things.

He has everything an integrator needs inside, including a 6-foot ladder and a 16-foot extension ladder.

Some other advantages of walk-in trucks include easy access. You simply back the truck up at jobsites and go in and out of the back doors. The crew won't need to unload all their supplies just to get one thing underneath.

Another benefit is having less-damaged materials. When vehicles are crowded, tools and supplies are easily damaged.

And of course, the sides of the truck provide prime real estate for advertising the company's logo and graphics.

If none of this seems to be in your budget, many truck body and truck shelving companies offer small, but useful accessories and protection for your trucks.

For example, Reading Truck Body sells toolmates, which can be added to pickup trucks, underboxes and crossboxes. For vans, they offer many accessories including a van door pouch, pull-out pouches and porta-tray racks for tools. To protect your trucks, they offer Rhino Lining, a polyurethane lining that prohibits rust, corrosion and surface abrasion.

For general protection, always use rust-free materials whenever possible.

The key to looking at the "up" side of upfitting is to evaluate where your real sore spots are in your fleet.

Where are you losing materials the most? What trucks are causing damage or increasing job times? Simple adjustments right now may save you thousands of dollars later.