****Two posts from Chris so close together! Chris got a new work truck OVER A YEAR AGO. Actually, in August of last year. Don’t believe me, well, this is what Zoe looked like when we went to a park after we bought it

 

I’m a handyman and Andre is the name of my truck. He’s a workhorse, the key to my success, and I couldn’t do my job without him.

Here’s the lumber rack.

It holds 16′ pieces of lumber. Trim, baseboard, 2x4s, 20′ pieces of rebar, etc. It goes up there up and out of the way. Gone are the days of worrying about long pieces of lumber hanging out the back of the truck and having to worry about how to support them. It also houses my step ladder which is with me at all times. It’s a 4 step gorilla ladder that’s good enough for me to work on ceiling as high as 10′. Made of lightweight and rustproof plastic and aluminum it can stay on the rack despite the weather and is easy to carry in one hand while I carry tools in the other.

Attached to the System One lumber rack is my System One toolbox.

It’s a 90″ box and fits four Festool Sortainers. Drill bits, driver bits, screws, nails and fasteners of all kinds, caulking, trash bags, hole saws, dremel, staple gun, etc. all get housed here.

Pretty much any fastener I need is back here and it’s a million times better than having a couple little plastic small parts cases with random screws. It’s organized, labeled, and constantly being refined to suit the most common jobs I get.

In the back is a custom made platform with three tool box drawers underneath.

The top of the platform is big enough to hold sheets of plywood, drywall, FRP, etc. Underneath the platform are enough tools to get 90% of the small jobs I may encounter done without needing to bring anything extra from home.

They’re all in Festool systainers for clean, waterproof organization. Each systainer is set up for a particular task or job type. Tools for: plumbing, electrical, cordless tools, HVAC, all sorts of drill bits, cleaning supplies, sanders, painting, drywall, etc.

Throughout the entire truck I probably have 10 flashlights, 5 11in1 screwdrivers, 8 utility knives, etc. There’s a lot of duplication within the boxes because it makes more sense to have a duplicate than it does to have to go back to the truck for a utility knife or screwdriver or whatever. Plus, I have common replacement parts – I always carry extra switches and receptacles, some common water supply valves, escutcheons, nipples, etc. The platform itself is made of 1 1/4″ subfloor plywood with a steel right angle screwed to the front for additional stiffness.

The middle drawer is taller so that when the platform is weighed down with 1,200 lbs of gravel or some concrete or extra lumber, it doesn’t sag under the weight.

Instead it sags about a 1/4″ and then rests on the middle drawer. Yes, this makes the drawer unusable while the weight is on it, but that’s a sacrifice I have to make for the flexibility of the entire system; and the other two drawers can still be used so it’s not that bad.

Add to all this, two bags for common tasks – a hand tools bag and a bag for my drill and impact driver. In my drill/driver bag I have a utility knife and flashlight (one of many) along with two containers full of drill bits, a Makita socket driver set, and two containers for the most common screws and nails I need. Sure, I have a virtual hardware store in the truck, but if I can save a trip to the truck with a few well chosen screws that make a little job go a bit faster then I’m better off. A radio and vaccum round out the list to clean up and give me something to listen to while I work.

On a daily basis I’m carrying about 1,000 lbs of tools, supplies, and infrastructure. It’s all worth it, though. Trips back home for a forgotten tool or to a hardware store cost me time, and time is money. For every mile I’m on the road I waste about 2 minutes and about .08 gallons of gas. This calculates to about $2.25/mile. If I’m 6 miles from home, or the nearest hardware store, I’m looking at about $27 in wasted money (12 miles round trip, $3 in gas and at least $24 in lost productivity); all because I have to make that unnecessary trip. I’ve avoided countless trips because of Andre and this organization.