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Company Vehicles - Trucks or Vans?

14K views 68 replies 15 participants last post by  tsunamicontract 
#1 ·
So when it comes to company vehicles, what would you prefer, a truck or a van?

Personally, I like working out of a truck. 4x4 is great for getting around in heavy snow and I like the versatility of a truck bed. After a huge summer for us, I just picked up this 04 Ram for our new company truck. It's got some nice add ons (wheels, exhaust, touneau cover) and is going to look great once the full wrap with logos is installed.

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#7 ·
Tim's always a party pooper. He fails to realize that if we didn't re-start 96% of the posts that existed, we wouldn't really have any new posts at all on this website. Ohh what fun that would be, huh Timma. :whistling2:

I like them both equally for different reasons. I'll probably always have a truck, but if the right deal came past on a van I'd grab it up in a second.
 
#14 ·
OH, THIS I GOTTA SEE

post it, post it, PLEAASSEE


I'm getting deja vu thinking about an answer.

Vans are nice for easy access to materials. PU's with a cap are good to keep driver separated from the stink.

I've had both. Wish there was something that incorporated the best of both. Perhaps a Sprinter with a sealed front compartment. Also, as I've mentioned before, a trailer is also a good solution - especially in these times of tight money and high fuel prices.

You will find answers if you search out those previous threads.

-Bill
 
#19 ·
Rough Crowd

Some of you guys love to find the negative in everything. I asked a question. Probably a better topic for this website than your political view on illegal aliens, no? If this topic is already listed, than don't reply if you're tired of talking about it.
 
#21 ·
Some of you guys love to find the negative in everything. I asked a question. Probably a better topic for this website than your political view on illegal aliens, no? If this topic is already listed, than don't reply if you're tired of talking about it.
pin

another option for you is to just ignore the neg comments, and keep it positive. :thumbsup: be proactive brother
 
#20 ·
Sprinters do look nice as far as versatility but they are pricey and I haven't seen a 4x4 option. A lot of my clients live on private drives and with all the snow up here you have to have 4x4
 
#22 ·
I do have a 5x8 co. trailer as well. It makes it easy to carry around sprayers, power washers, etc. It is always fully loaded with the essentials and gets left at the jobsite for the crew. However, when I go off to do another job, I need something to lug around all of my tools too.
 
#23 ·
I do have a 5x8 co. trailer as well. It makes it easy to carry around sprayers, power washers, etc. It is always fully loaded with the essentials and gets left at the jobsite for the crew. However, when I go off to do another job, I need something to lug around all of my tools too.

Trailers are very nice, especially in hoods whear you can't put a sighn in the yard, a rolling billboard.
 
#24 ·
Unless you do new const. how can you use a truck? Where do you keep all the supplies you might need? Where do you store your drops, covers, frames, primers etc. etc.? Is your tool box so large that you can keep everything there?...Of course maybe you plan better than me, know whats needed each day and leave it at that. Just wondering..pd
 
#25 ·
pd,

Am I missing something? I don't quite understand your question.

Or have you forgotten to distinquish between an open bed vs one with a cap or locked tonneau cover? Do you feel there are weather and security issues with an open bed?

If that's the case, I agree. I know folks with open beds that need to dodge the weather OR live in sunny Calif where it's always sunny. But they still need to bring stuff into the house (or storage unit) at night if they can't lock the truck in a garage.
 
#27 ·
Truck

How can I work out of a truck? Seriously? First off, I already stated that we also have a 5x8 trailer for many of our materials. Even if we didn't, why couldn't you work out of a truck alone? Ladders stack easily in the bed with a couple of bungees, a few five gallon buckets with tool wraps stores all of the essentials, extension poles are an easy fit, wooster 18" bucket holds all of the roller frames and covers, and it can all be covers with the rolling tonneau cover (other than ladders) when need be.
 
#29 ·
why couldn't you work out of a truck alone? Ladders stack easily in the bed with a couple of bungees, a few five gallon buckets with tool wraps stores all of the essentials, extension poles are an easy fit, wooster 18" bucket holds all of the roller frames and covers, and it can all be covers with the rolling tonneau cover (other than ladders) when need be.
What about - the drill, sanders, drywall tools, roof hooks, vacuum, rake, drop cloths, sprayer, assorted primers and stock whites, ladder jacks, brooms, mops, pump sprayer, pivit, planks, a couple of peices of 3/8 and 1/2 inch drywall, compound, durabond, saw horses, a case of caulk, chemicals (bug spray, windex, xylene, goof off, thinner, bleach, flotrol, penetrol, bee spray), all your masking materials, ladder boots.
 
#28 ·
Working out of a truck sucks. I know you have a trailer pin, this isn't directed at you. With or without a cap, I just find working out of a truck to be so dam aggravating. You've gotta crawl in to get something, there's not nearly enough room, the only advantage I see to a truck is having 4x4.

Here's a perfect example of how it used to drive me absolutely insane...and lead me to break things. You are finishing up an interior and need the vacuum. Well the vacuum is behind the sprayer, so you have to pull the sprayer out of the truck to get to the vacuum, and once you get the vacuum out you realize that the end that you want to use fell off in the back of the truck so you have to climb in and get it, and on the way in you scrape your back on the aluminum spine that runs down the middle of it. Now you have to put it all back in, just so you could clean up a couple rooms.

With my van packed the way it is I can pull up to almost any job and have what I need, and also usually what I didn't count on needing. Honestly, I have flashbacks when I see a painting truck, and my blood begins to boil.
 
#39 ·
ha, i work out of a BMW X5 with the 4.6 V8....have a fully wrapped trailers for EVERYTHING that stay on site......I drive about 200 miles a day from site to site and give 3-5 quotes a day. I could not do that in a van, or larger truck no frickin way. Last week i almost picked up one of the new 5.7 tundra max cab trucks.....just too big for how i drive....
 
#41 ·
ha, i work out of a BMW X5 with the 4.6 V8....have a fully wrapped trailers for EVERYTHING that stay on site......I drive about 200 miles a day from site to site and give 3-5 quotes a day. I could not do that in a van, or larger truck no frickin way. Last week i almost picked up one of the new 5.7 tundra max cab trucks.....just too big for how i drive....
Care to share with us how you get that many leads?? That is awesome!!!:thumbsup: Im trying to just average two a day, and need some help. :notworthy:
 
#46 ·
well as a matter of fact, may ass is itchy.......:mad:
I market pretty regular, i budget $6700-$7600 per month...FIRST. before anything else i pay that...sucks but it works. Focused, different things, always overlapping. we dont have a winter here, so july and august are our slow time....

you really have a vanquish? i looked at the vantage last year...now that the price has dropped some ;)..maybe..
 
#49 ·
I wouldn't go as far as to say 1/2 the country doesn't have a winter. Can you name 25 states that don't have a winter? Can you name 20?

As far as your marketing goes, that is a big nut! $7000 per month is pricey but if you can swing it, more power to you. How big of an operation are you running?
 
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