CardinalPumbing

Alright, so 2010 is starting out to be a great year. I have work coming in steady and everything appears to be inline. I am ready now to spend the overhead on just truck stock for now. I have worked for plumbing companies who stock everything under the sun. Is it all neccessary? I know the obvious, such as copper, pex, drain piping and fittings, but what about water filters, faucets, and pumps. Just looking for feedbck. I know some of you guys have been doing this a long time and have had numerous truck setups? I have a service van so I am limited to what I can stock. What works and what doesn't?

Indie

I say carry the essential, then load up as job comes in. I have too much stuff on truck that collects dust.

Phat Cat

Look through your sales receipts from the last 3 mos. and that should give you a good idea of what should be on the truck. For us, it's mostly repair parts for WC, WH, & faucets.

We sell re-circ pumps, but not enough to justify taking up space on the truck. When we need one, we pick it up.

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SummPlumb

Stock just the necessary. Let the hardware store stock the rest for you. You can never have everything.

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ChrisConnor

You need toilet fill valves, flappers, supply connectors, faucet washers, a six in one screwdriver, channel locks and some duct tape.

You question of "is it all necessary?" can only be answered by you.

I think at a minimum you should have what it takes to repair any thing you can see on the inside of a home such as toilets, faucets, tub faucet repair kits, basket strainers,under sink waste pipes, fixture stops, hose bibbs. water heater repair parts, at least one food waste disposer and stuff to fix broken water lines.

DWV stuff doesn't have to be kept on the truck and can be bought on an as needed basis, although it is nice to be able to sell and complete a clean out installation on one trip.

Whether or not you carry an assortment of faucets is entirely up to your truck space and budget constraints, but do consider an no frills model to keep for those landlord/rental situations.

rocksteady

Obviously this has a lot to do with what's in your area. I have tons of Moen and Delta repair parts, some Price Pfister and Mixet but only a few Kohler and not much else. No point in keeping Crane and Gerber parts on my truck even though there are a few of those products in the area. Just like everyone said; the normal stuff to fix the fixtures that are common in your service area. I'm in a small cargo van so I don't carry fixtures with the exception of a few faucets; just not enough room. I used to have 3 garbage disposals on my truck when I drove a box truck but I can't spare the space. It would be great to have a toilet and the common water heaters on the truck at all times but then you're talking about a big box or step van. Really, only you can say what you encounter on a daily basis.







Paul

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Rocksteady Plumbing
Serving San Luis Obispo County
(805) 237-7625 (ROCK)
http://rocksteadyplumbing.com/

UnclogNH

For me it seems everything I need I don't have and everything I have I don't need. And as soon as I don't think I need it and take it out. I need it.

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Charging less does not mean more call volume it just means you have to work harder to reach your goals.

RealLivePlumber

Do a search, there was a thread on this a while back.

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RealLivePlumber
You can make it happen, you can watch it happen, or you can wonder wtf happened.
Phil Harris 2009

holman23

the problem i have encountered is that when you stock a truck with everything you still don't have what you need. we always tell the customer there are a million parts out there and we can only carry bare essentials. or, you have drivers that need parts at there house and it is very hard to keep track of everything.

Bill

When I did service work I had a 1 ton dually with a 9' reading service body on it. I had fittings galore and was 1,500 lbs over weight and still did not have everything I needed to have. I find it hard to say what to have on a truck.

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