A Working HVAC Boss's Service Transit Van

Does It All

Angel says he does mostly HVAC service, but his van is set up to do it all!

The van has a commercial upfit using steel shelving down both sides of the cargo area. He carries racks of both HVAC and plumbing inventory.

He keeps plenty of inventory on the truck, since running back to the shop or to a supply house takes time. Like he says:

You can never, ever have enough condenser fan motors in the summer.

Angel also keeps a drain cleaning machine on the van. A ramp on the van at the side cargo door gets it to the ground, so he doesn't need to do the heavy lifting!

Ground Level Tools

At the rear of the van are three tanks of refrigerant mounted at the end of the passenger side shelves. Many techs mount their tanks with the handles facing in, but Angel has his facing to the rear.

While he loses a bit of shelf length in this orientation, the handles don't protrude into the open cargo area of the van. This makes it easier to haul equipment if the van needs to do double duty for installations. The tanks mount low enough that they're easy to grab from ground level.

On the other side of the van is his battery charging station. This simple setup is mounted on the back face of the shelf unit. It uses a large power inverter, one DeWalt battery charger, one Milwaukee battery charger, and some battery mounts for extra batteries.

He mounted some pipe wrenches above the charging station with some electrical conduit straps.

His Veto Pro Pac TP-XL is also located at the rear door and holds a Milwaukee drill and lots of hand tools. A lot of HVAC techs use a larger backpack for tools, but it's good to have a lighter loadout to reduce the strain on your body, especially if you need to move your tool bag several times a day.

90% of what I need is in this bag, because I don't like coming up and down the roof to come back to my truck to grab what I need.

Carry That Umbrella!

As many HVAC techs know, carrying an umbrella can be important for jobs in the summer. They help to keep the sun off you and can also keep you dry in a light rain.

Some techs use awnings for bad weather and will wrap the awning in a tarp to create a dry, warm "room" in more extreme conditions.

Angel's umbrella has a magnetic base, so he can stick it on equipment and be covered up anywhere.

Ladder Management

Angel's Transit has three ladders. An extension ladder is on a ladder rack on the roof. A 6-foot step ladder is secured to the inside roof of the van. A light and small 2-step step ladder is situated on the van's floor, ready to go.

The short ladder is a lot easier to carry on to a job than the 6-footer. Many techs choose to use a smaller step ladder that folds nearly flat. These ladders are easy to store on small vans when space is taken up by tools and inventory.

Customer Consideration

Angel carries a large 3'x5' mat that he can roll out on the job site to protect customers' floors. Even when it's not completely necessary, this can go a long way toward good word of mouth. Some techs similarly show up wearing booties to keep mud or dirt out of a home, and this makes a great impression on customers.

As a boss, he doesn't like getting phone calls about bent gutters. To prevent this he outfits ladders with a gutter protector that keeps them from being bent or crushed.

Conclusion

Angel has a solid HVAC service van setup that can also handle installations and plumbing calls. He keeps many items within reach from outside the van and has ways to handle larger and heavier tools.