DSS Electrical's Tidy Electrician's Van
RIG DETAILS
| USED FOR | Electrical |
| TYPICAL JOBS | rewires, board changes, landscape electrical, extensions |
| BODY | Compact Cargo Van |
ORGANIZATION
Dan's electrician van is setup for the types of jobs he does: rewires, board changes, gardens, and extensions. He used off-the-shelf, commercially available components for this van upfit.
Dan has multiple vans for his electrical business. Though it's quite small (by USA standards!), this particular van is designed to accommodate 2 electricians working out of it.
See More:
The Today Bin
Have you ever told the dude you're working with, "Yeah, I picked it up at the supply house last night. It's on the front seat. It might have rolled on to the floor." Maybe, just maybe, there's a better way:
Dan dedicates one bin in the van for the one-off parts that he'll need for the next day's job.
This is a simple organizing principle. Parts are ready to go and other team members already know where to find these parts. No digging around, and ideally, no one needs to even ask where that special breaker or solenoid is.
Is It Enough Space?
Dan says that one of the comments he's received is essentially that the racking isn't very space efficient. But Dan points out that he's got a whole rack of sleeving, which is probably excessive.
The takeaway here is that this work van is set up for certain jobs and that the current upfit provides plenty of space for the jobs that Dan's business does.
If you see enough van upfits, you'll notice a theme that people that specialize within a trade (doing trim instead of full remodels) or that specialize a van for a purpose (an HVAC van for service plus an HVAC van for installation) are more organized (and probably more profitable).
Parts Within Reach
The rear of the van has a dual drawer storage system, the Van Vault Slider. He loves that they feel sturdy and have a smooth open/close action.
This seems to work well with the low roof height of the van. Instead of crouching to get parts that are deeper in the van, Dan can sit on the shelf and reach in to grab something.
Lots of Labels
Bins have plenty of labels. This serves a couple of purposes. First, apprentices can figure out what things are. Second, since apprentices are in charge of keeping inventory, they'll know when a commonly used item goes out of stock.
Job Coffee
An electric kettle and some instant coffee means that coffee's available anytime there is electricity for the kettle!
Bits and Pieces
Tools that don't get used very frequently are relegated to the recesses of the van.
A cable reel setup holds several different sizes and types of wire and can be easily dismounted to change a spool or bring it on the job site.
LED strips lights provide plenty of light.
Check out his other van tours/builds here:
Also see his Youtube channel for How-Tos, How-Not-Tos, typical days in the life of an electrician, and interesting installs and fixes.
Get work trucks and tips in your mailbox.
Your time is precious. We write about organization, tools, and techniques that make tradespeople work faster and more efficiently. Subscribe to get our articles and tips in your inbox.
We will not spam you.