Landscaping companies, home improvement contractors, plumbing, even touring musicians - there’s a lot we need our work vans to do. And, as a result, there’s a lot of stuff we need to keep in our work vans. Whether you’re the meticulous type that brings everything back inside at the end of the day, or the “they’re fine in the truck” sort, anything that goes into a work truck needs to be organized the best it can. That’s where shelves come in!

Organizing Work Vans With Shelving

A lot of people think of home shelving as a way to organize the stuff already inside their homes, but in reality it can actually come in super handy for organizing your small business’ work vans, too. A few of our favorite examples include:

• Home wire shelving mounted to the walls of the van to create easy, convenient storage racks, allowing you to organizing tools and parts of all sizes
• Repurposed basement shelving racks - these shelves often offer a high weight capacity for even the biggest equipment you have
• Corner wire shelving to fill up the more awkward spaces near the front or back of the van, allowing you to maximize your full storage capacity
• Even home wood shelves can be used for a bit more ‘rustic’ look - just be careful of the weight limits!

Depending on the shelves being used, you’ll need to make sure they’re all mounted as carefully as possible - you don’t want one left turn to knock everything loose and ruin your organization job! Once your shelves are installed, you can take further steps to organize the tools you keep on them. Many work vans turn to things like toolboxes and plastic storage bins to organize smaller parts on their shelves, but if you’re feeling clever you could repurpose other home shelving supplies such as cabinet organizers to better tidy up the shelves. You could also use shelving accessories like shelving hooks and shelving enclosures to add a bit extra storage space and security to the whole thing. This can serve the dual goals of preventing items from getting lost or spilled, and adding a little extra concealment in case you decide to leave anything in there overnight.

Adding Shelves to Your Work Van

Generally speaking, most van layouts are the same, so you’ll want to take advantage of any flat wall space first. Take careful measurements of the sides of your van - taking into account anything that could get in the way like door panels, preexisting hooks, and the like - and then plan for your shelf sizes. Most work vans (even the really big ones they sell nowadays that look like a small bus) probably won’t be tall enough to accommodate anything larger than 2-shelf shelving units or 3-shelf shelving units, so you’ll need to make careful use of your existing space. Otherwise, once your shelves are all properly installed and mounted, you should be all set! Imagine how much nicer and well organized your van will be the next time you have to set off on a job?