Pest control trucks can become cluttered and disorganized over time. Work truck disorganization slows down productivity and leaves pest control professionals like yourself struggling to provide five-star service to your customers. The best way to prevent this is by having an iron-clad organizational structure in your truck to begin with.
Read on to learn the safest, most accessible ways to set up a pest control truck that pest control companies can follow to promote productivity and streamline workflow. We’ll cover:
- Pest control truck equipment
- Pest control truck setup considerations
- The best way to organize your pest control truck
Pest control truck equipment
When planning your pest control truck setup, it’s important to first consider the tools and equipment you’ll be hauling.
Most technicians will be hauling the following pest control truck equipment:
- Ladders
- Pest control spray rigs
- Electric hose recoiler
- Smaller tanks, hoses, and wands
- Chemicals
- Bait, traps, trays, etc.
- Trenching tools
- Power tools
- Concrete and mixing bowl
- General tools and material
- Flashlights, headlamps, and extra batteries
- Extension cords
- PPE
- Emergency safety equipment
- Administrative supplies
Keeping all of this gear organized is the best way to boost technician efficiency and can be the differentiator between a productive day and an unfavorable day.
Pest control truck setup considerations
Your best approach to setting up your work truck is to install a pest control vehicle upfitting.
This includes making modifications such as:
- Adding storage compartments like racks, shelves, slide decks, or utility toppers
- Increasing towing capability
- Making changes to the vehicle’s suspension and chassis
Why should I install a utility topper on my pest control truck?
If you are hauling a large spray rig, it is best to install a utility topper. While a simple pickup truck can do the job, your spray rig, materials, and tools are exposed on an open truck bed. This can cause damage when there is excessive rain, heat, or snow. A pickup truck setup also forces chemicals to be kept inside the cab which could be hazardous to drivers.
Adding a utility topper (also referred to as a cap, canopy, or box cover) to your work truck protects your gear and materials in the truck bed against the elements, vandalism, and theft, extending your pest control equipment’s lifespan. It also allows you to keep chemicals in the truck bed, and away from the truck’s compact interior.
After installing the topper
With the added weight of a utility topper, spray rig, and other pest control equipment, you’ll be hauling a much heavier load and should consider increasing the truck’s towing capacity and making changes to the vehicle’s suspension and chassis.
Adding a front sway bar to the truck (if it doesn’t already have one) will help prevent rollovers by keeping the vehicle planted while cornering.
If you are considering cargo vans to upgrade your fleet in the future, we’ve ranked the top one for small businesses.
The best way to organize your pest control truck
Broken down by truck sections:
Truck bed
The truck bed is the largest part of your pest control vehicle. With the utility topper, your organization options are endless.
We recommend the following setup:
- Spray rig: On the truck bed, place your large liquid holding tank and pump. Next to the tank, there will be space for your hose recoiler. Position it in a way that can easily be accessed from the topper’s side hatch.
- Smaller tanks: If you work with multiple small tanks instead of one big one, consider getting a custom container built that has individual slots for each tank and their hose and wand. For easier access, consider having a sliding tray installed with the custom container.
- Trenching tools: It is best to lay these on the base of the truck bed—ideally towards the sides of the bed. Consider using a large duffle to keep them bundled for easy access. You may also want to consider having custom slots or trays installed to hold them in place and help slide them out from the box. These slide decks can be installed on the base of the truck bed.
- Heavier and larger items: Keep your concrete, blower, short ladder, buckets, and other heavier or large items in the truck bed. Place the items your pest control technicians use the least at the back of the bed, closest to the cab, and the items they use most closer to the tailgate.
- Extension cords: If you have space, install utility hooks on the inside of the truck topper to hang extension cords and hoses.
Truck exterior
Side panel
On the outside of the cab topper, there will be some side cargo access shelves. It is best to keep the following in these side panels:
- Chemical bottles and aerosol cans: To ensure chemical safety and crew safety, keep these hazardous materials in a separate compartment. If the shelves are too large and bottles are getting knocked over, you can add some small bins or plastic brackets to hold the containers together.
- Dirty crawl suits: Contaminated suits should have a designated space in the external side compartment of your pest control truck.
- Extra wands: Depending on the size of your side compartment, there may also be space for extra wands. These are smart to keep separate as they may also be contaminated.
Roof
The roof will be used to store only one item:
- Ladder: The roof of the truck should be reserved for convenient ladder storage. Having a ladder rack installed is the best way to transport your longer ladders. Look for a ladder rack that is designed specifically for pickup trucks with a cap. The best ones come with a swing-down option for maximum safety and convenience.
Truck interior
The best way to organize the inside of your pest control cab is by using Tupperware boxes! First of all, if you don’t install the utility truck cap and you must store chemicals inside the cab, do so in Tupperware boxes for added safety or consider installing sealed partitions to separate the front and back of the cab on each of your work trucks.
Your crew should keep smaller items inside the cab as follows:
- Masks and respirators: Masks and respirators can be hung on utility hooks inside the cab. You can also purchase attachments to hang masks above the rear windows or behind the headrests or hang them in the back of the cab on a utility hook. Give both options a try and see what works best for your crew.
- Bait, traps, and trays: These can be kept in the backseats of the cab or in the side compartment shelves—choose the best place for them according to their quantity and size. If they are in the backseat, we recommend organizing them in a Tupperware box. If they are in the side compartment of the truck cap, you can organize them in plastic bins or baskets just like the chemical bottles and aerosol cans.
- Tools: Drill, drill bits, measuring tape, and other tools and materials can be kept inside the cab of the pest control truck—usually in the backseats. We recommend investing in a tool kit that safely transports tools as well as a tool belt to make it easier for pest control technicians to access and transport as needed.
- General equipment: Equipment like flashlights, headlamps, extra batteries, and camera equipment, are best kept inside the cab. These can go in the same Tupperware bin as your PPE equipment (eye protection, booties, gloves, clean crawl suits, and clean Tyvek suits), as well as any extra work clothes (jackets, collared t-shirts, etc.).
Pro tip: Label your Tupperware boxes. This will make for the easiest, most fluid, and organized approach.
- Emergency safety equipment: Items like fire extinguishers, first aid kits, and spill kits can all be stored in the cab. They should be easily accessible at any given time. Fire extinguishers can easily be installed underneath the front portion of the passenger seat. First aid kits can sometimes be stored in the glove compartment or in a pouch behind the driver or passenger seat. Spill kits can be placed on the floor in the backseat—just try not to stack anything on top.
- Administrative supplies: Items like payment tools, notebooks, clipboards, and business cards can all be stowed in the front of the cab. In some of the newer trucks, the center console is large enough to fit all of these things. If not, see if they’ll stow nicely in the glove box or in the side slots of the front doors.
- Navigation and fleet tracking devices: You’ll want to keep the dashboard clear for navigating and tracking. Attach the navigation tool (like a Garmin for example) to the front window or dash and plug fleet tracking devices into your OBD-II port.
Vehicle tracking for pest control businesses
Once you’ve set up your pest control truck appropriately, the next step is to organize your fleet to maximize operations. With GPS tracking software for pest control vehicles, you can see vehicle locations in real-time and maintain employee efficiency and safety while on the roads. Proper fleet management also allows you to reduce operating costs and reduce repair costs with preventative maintenance notifications, so your hard work outfitting your pest control trucks can be preserved. Start a free trial and complete your ideal pest control truck setup.
