Whether they’re traveling between job sites, retrieving parts and tools during repair calls, or ducking in to phone the office and double-check that technical guidance, HVACR technicians spend a lot of time in their trucks.
HVACR work trucks and vans are rolling offices, workshops, and tool and equipment cribs as well as the vehicles technicians use to get from one job to another. Like any office, factory, or retail work space, trucks function best when they’re safe, clean, and organized for maximum efficiency.
“Efficiency in transit directly impacts productivity on the job, and, as HVACR technicians often work out of their vans, disorganized or inaccessible tools can lead to wasted time and missed opportunities,” said Tanner Mascarenas, a product marketing manager at Milwaukee Tool, which offers the Packout Modular Storage System for vans and trucks used in the trades.
“The upfits generally provide a more safe and secure work environment, because, you know, if you’re a contractor, an HVAC technician, an electrician, your van is your mobile workstation. It goes where you go,” said Dara Woods-Briskin, marketing manager at Ranger Design Inc., which builds customized storage systems for “upfitting” trades vehicles.
The fact that the trucks are frequently in the public eye — on the road, or parked outside a customer’s home or business — presents opportunities for contractor branding as well.
“Having a vehicle is one of the biggest expenses that contractors have” when the cost of maintenance, fuel, insurance, and windshield time — when a technician isn’t generating any revenue — are factored in, said Emily Fleniken at Real Graphics, a graphic design, signage, and printing company that offers vehicle wraps. “So why not make it actually kind of work for you? By having a vehicle wrap, it is advertising for you, it’s making you more known. I think it legitimizes the company when that technician does actually come up to your home.”
Graphics That Grab
Based in Lufkin, Texas, Real Graphics is co-owned by Fleniken and her husband, Chris. The company creates vehicle wraps for tradespeople and other organizations and businesses, from mobile health clinics to churches to schools that, for instance, have a marching band whose directors want to do a little branding on equipment trailers. Fleniken is also the creative director at Lemon Seed Marketing, in nearby Diboll, Texas, and Lemon Seed will sometimes refer clients in HVACR and other trades to Real Graphics when they are in need of vehicle wraps.
Fleniken recommends colorful, striking, uncluttered wrap designs that leave an impression on viewers. She doesn’t favor including the contractor’s phone number or OEM brands on the wrap — those are of lesser importance to the contractor’s branding goals and tend to clutter the design, she said.
CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS: Ranger Design, based in Canada, with much manufacturing in the U.S., designs and builds custom in-vehicle storage products for a wide variety of trucks and vans. (Courtesy of Ranger Design)
“Some contractors, they’re like … ‘I can’t live with myself if I don’t have a phone number on there,’” Fleniken said. “If we were to do that, we would say, ‘Hey, maybe only put on the back of the vehicle, like not on the sides.’”
Real Graphics uses high-tech vinyl sheeting for its wraps; the material’s construction makes it easier to eliminate air bubbles that can form under the wrap during application, Fleniken said. A typical van wrap is about $3,000 to $4,000, she said, and will last between three and seven years, depending on the climate in which the vehicle is used.
“What else are you doing that has so much impact, as much as a wrap does, that costs less than $100 a month?” Fleniken said.
HVAC truck wraps are not an immediate call to action or an investment that pays short-term dividends, Fleniken said, but a long-term brand-building exercise that puts a company’s name and image in front of a lot of potential customers over several years.
“We know that you don’t need a heating and air conditioning system every day, every year. … It’s a long-term game,” Fleniken said. “So how can we build a brand that stands the test of time, to where, whenever they do have that time of need, where they do actually need your service, people already know who to call?”
Custom In-Van Storage
Montreal, Canada-based Ranger Design, which has factories in Rochester, New York, and Seattle, Washington, designs and builds the shelving, cabinets, drawers, partitions, and other accessories used to customize work trucks and vans.
For Ranger, customization applies to the specific model of truck or van being upfitted, as well as to the type of work — HVACR, electrical service, plumbing, or delivery — for which the vehicle is being modified.
“We have a package specifically for HVAC technicians, and all our packages were built based on feedback from actual tradespeople,” Woods-Briskin said.
PACK YOUR GEAR: Milwaukee Tool’s Packout products, several of which are shown here installed in a truck outfitted for trades work, were introduced in 2017. (Courtesy of Milwaukee Tool)
Ranger has configurations for the Ford Transit, the Chevrolet Express, the Ram ProMaster, the Chrysler Pacifica, the Nissan NV 2000, the GMC Savana, and many other models of work vans and trucks. Contractor customers don’t need to settle for a predetermined package for their model of truck or van, however, but can pick and choose different storage products and customize their vehicles themselves.
“We have a team of engineers who will work with them hand in hand to provide solutions that they are looking for, which are all completely custom,” Woods-Briskin said.
HVAC represents the largest proportion of Ranger’s trades customers, Woods-Briskin said. Smaller shops, with one or maybe just a few vehicles, are more likely to do their own customizations, while larger fleets tend toward the uniform upfitting Ranger designed for the specific models of vehicles being put into service. “The trade packages are available as a kind of plug-and-play solution, but they are more readily used by fleet companies,” she said.
Ranger’s website offers a configuration tool that customers can use to do their own customizations. The company sells its products through a network of more than 250 distributors across North America, companies whose employees are trained to properly install Ranger systems in a variety of vehicles.
“There’re always a proportion of customers who will go to the distributor, buy it themselves, and do the installation themselves,” Woods-Briskin said. “We always recommend that it be installed by a professional.”
Modular Approach
Milwaukee Tool, headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, debuted the Packout system in 2017 and continues to add to it. The Packout line — toolboxes, racks, holders, wheeled carts, and other items that help technicians keep things organized in the truck and in the shop — now includes more than 125 products.
Packout storage solutions are designed to help technicians move things between the shop, the truck, and the work area — with minimal loading and unloading fuss and easy access to the tools and parts being carried. The components have connectivity to each other, which allows for versatility and streamlined storage.
“This system allows professionals to fully customize their storage on the job site, in the shop, or in transit, reinforcing Packout as the most versatile and durable modular storage system in the industry,” said Mascarenas, the Milwaukee Tool marketing manager.
Coming soon, Mascarenas said, is the Packout Rack, which will be especially useful for HVACR technicians. The Rack, he said, “introduces a new level of accessibility and organization inside the vehicle.” The Rack has sliding drawers with adjustable heights for customization, and modular components are easily removed and can be set on a rolling base to bring into the work area.
“Racks can stack and expand across the van wall to match the needs of any fleet. This solution maximizes storage space by having the ability to mount over a wheel well or rolling Packout toolboxes,” Mascarenas. “This new storage rack transforms underutilized van space into a secure, fully customized solution.”
Packout products for vehicles, available through Milwaukee Tool distributors, come with the hardware and instructions needed for in-house installation, or can be installed by authorized Milwaukee Tool partners, Mascarenas said. Like Ranger Design, Milwaukee Tool relies on advice from trades professionals in designing Packout products.
“Every Packout solution is developed with direct input from professionals in the field, ensuring the storage systems meet the real-world demands of HVACR work,” Mascarenas said.