Organization Man: A contractor's guide to cargo management
BUYER’SGUIDE
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By Larry Walton
RGANIZAT
A contractor’s guide to cargo management
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any of us have vehicles dedicated to work only, but our personal pickups get used for work and play. For work you may need to quickly find something as small as a socket wrench or safely secure big items like sledgehammers, chains, pipes, lumber and ladders. And as the seasons change so do our recreational pursuits and equipment. ATVs, hockey gear, golf clubs, camping equipment and hunting gear all take their rotations in my truck. A place for everything and everything in its place—easy to say, harder to achieve. But a little bit of homework and the right cargo management products can turn your tool and/or recreational gear storage from chaos into a system that’s organized, safe and secure—regardless of the job or season.
COMPARTMENTALIZE
One of the big advantages to tool boxes, shelves, partitions and compartments is the way you can get more gear in the vehicle. Most of the products we found don’t add cubic feet of storage, but make better use of the space available. Fitting stuff in your truck is much like organizing a garden shed or a closet; add some shelving and consolidate individual items in boxes and you can greatly increase the efficiency of the space. Look for cargo management products that do the same for your truck. Keeping gear confined to small areas means you can fit in more gear. Layering with shelves and compartments increases efficiency. Extending cargo carrying to the outside also adds to the volume of gear hauling space. Products that fit on overhead racks and receiverhitch-mounted decks leave free space inside for passengers and additional equipment. These additions to the vehicle’s profile are likely to get more popular as many people downsize to smaller, more fuel efficient rigs.
MATCH STORAGE TO GEAR
Look for products that make sense for the gear you haul. The perfect setup for a carpenter may not work at all for a concrete finisher or a dirt work guy. If you’re taking off for a deer hunt, you need to bring all of the gear for the hunt, for field dressing and game packing. You’ll need clothes for changing weather conditions.
Add food, vehicle recovery gear and medical emergency supplies and you have plenty to keep organized. Something as simple as keeping tackle with rods, ammo with firearms or stakes and tarps with tents is important when you are in the field. Make a list and check it twice, for work and play.
ACCESS
Accessibility is also a big concern in gear management. Just because your truck can carry something doesn’t mean you can get to it quickly. Unloading and unpacking everything every time you need some-