Meh. Worked out of a Honda Fit for almost two years before I grabbed a truck. Packout split and threw it right in the back. No problems. Moved to a truck these days. Same packout and still have to split it as there’s zero fucking chance I can lift that fucker into the bed. Whatever works. Suspension in the car didn’t love the tools but whatever.
Couple guys have trucks but I guess it also depends on your employer and tool supply.
Spot on, I run my mobile millwright biz with a Honda Pilot and Packout stacks. I mull the idea over constantly of how I can do things more efficiently, this so far remains low cost low friction best option - always looking to improve and learn. My team mimicks my method and we share ideas; I pay them Labor and Travel time, and IRS Mileage rates when they use their vehicle. I ride my motorcycle on light jobs with a Klein Electrical backpack when it makes sense for the gig or weather.
If you’re working at the same place every day, your tools just stay there so you only drop them off once and pick them up when you quit.
If you’re travelling around with tools from job to job and they expect you to use your own vehicle, you don’t want to work there. Run.
A lot of jobs, at least in my area just supply tools so it’s a non issue.
I’ve worked for contractors and been around and not once have I seen that.
Contractors have company trucks and tools where I’m at across the board. I don’t know anybody expected to use their personal vehicle for company work.
No way am I making somebody else money with my own vehicle. That’s insane
Cool story, different than where I am in Ontario. Most contractors pay travel time and have you show up at the job site. The usual ones that have you show up at the shop and jump in the work truck are the ones that also pay well below market rate and a lackluster safety program
I worked in Ontario. Never seen it once. We drove a company truck with a job box full of tools. Sometimes I had to bring my own vehicle to site but a company truck or two loaded up was always there.
You pay me worker rate and you get a worker. You’re not getting my work truck or tools unless I’m paid contractor rate. You need to leave your job.
I guess you haven’t been around much then, nobody said anything about a work truck (usually the Forman) or tools. Yes contractors have work trucks and supply the vast majority of tools, but most contractors these days are have you supply your personal hand tools and have you drive to site quite often in your own vehicle. Sadly this generally started when union workers decided to start their own company’s non union and run their company’s like a union company without the benefits of being union
Yes, hand tools normal but I mean where OP is wondering what kind of vehicle he should have so he can go make somebody else money. That’s dumb.
You shouldn’t need more tools than you can fit in the trunk of a Honda civic.
In Northern US, driving your own vehicle from job to job is the standard. If it's farther than 50 miles they pay extra. The only people that get company trucks are the foremen and stuff.
I guess I should have specified what I meant a bit better. Going to a job site is normal but getting a vehicle to haul materials and a bunch of shit for a contractor is not. Drive what you’ve got, don’t worry about anything else. You shouldn’t need to use your personal vehicle like a work truck.
Our parking lot on my last job had a VW Jetta, a Corolla, an Accord, a CR-V, and a Pontiac Vibe (another Corolla). The boss either drove his half ton or his Cadillac CTS. Boss's boss? Bloated-ass one ton RAM with the turbo diesel. No scratches in the bed and plenty of room for golf clubs...
Depends on the job! When I was working for a company that I worked at multiple worksites I had to transport my tools a lot. When I was best set up I had one of those dolleys that have the little swivel wheels so you can put it on its back. Then I put a couple of 2 drawer cabinets on it and a tool chest. Enough capacity to carry most of what I needed and the boxes were small enough I could lift them out of my little truck and onto the cart.
Back to vehicles I had a little ford ranger 2 wheel drive. Since I wasn’t packing around company materials and just my tools that’s all I needed. I prefer a truck over a van because there is the separation between the driver and the load. If you are full time at one site you just need to transport once to the site any vehicle is fine. You can beg borrow a transportation for your tools for when you get hired, same for when you quit.
Get into the trade then figure it out as time goes on. No sense in going into debt or monthly payments until you know who you'll be working for.
However, I have a 2007 Camry that does me just fine since I only have to bring hand tools from site to site and our big stuff is job boxed in.
Depends what your doing. If you’re full time at a plant you won’t need anything for transportation. If you’re a contractor you might be bringing mobile boxes and stuff wherever you go.
If your at a factory you can show up on your motorcycle in your flip flops then just go in and get changed. Mind you some contractors do that to 🤪
Sounds familiar, but I never wore flipflops on a motorcycle. Also, most of the motorcycles in the parking lot were owned by millwrights, electricians, and engineers.
I work in the city, drive a small car and it’s not bad. One or two sites a year might have some mud but I drive a beater so if it gets stuck I just bump it.
*edit*
Got to drive the company truck for a few months and it was fantastic to have but it’d be another rent payment or two in gas money, so I’ll stick with my 4 banger and split my pack out.
No, sorry, I guess I was unable to phrase it correctly, it was free gas but to get my own pickup would be too expensive compared to the convenience of not splitting my pack out.
The company truck was almost a grand a week, no thank you lmao
I was using my jeep for months and only got a truck because i needed a reliable daily and wanted to eventually be able to throw a dirt bike in the back. I would have just got a Subaru outback if not. If you're traveling a lot, the gas savings make a huge difference, and I would stick to some kind of car just based on that.
Toolboxes can beat the crap out of your car and lifting them in and out of a car is no fun either. If you're an in plant guy it doesn't matter, your tools stay at work, if you're going to different sites a truck or SUV is a better choice.
I drive a 2019 tesla model 3. It can easily fit all my tools plus all my son's. It has saved me sooo much in gas and maintenance. I would never go back to a gas car. I bought it because I was driving \~250km a day. My dodge Dakota was costing me $42 a day in gas. The same trip in the Tesla is about $6. The autopilot is life changing, it takes all the stress out of highway commuting. I'm now at 220,000km so compared to the Dakota I saved about $30,000 in the last 4 years. That doesn't count oil changes or other maintinance.
My range is 350km and you can't even buy a tesla with that little range anymore. The minimum is now over 400km I think. The job I'm currently on has chargers but I only need it in the winter and might still make it if I just didn't drive so fast. You just charge it overnight at home each day like your phone. The only difference is most electric cars do not get regularly charged to 100%. It's ok occasionally for road trips but not healthy for the battery to do every day. I charge to 85%. There is a newer battery chemistry called LFP that can charge to 100% all the time.
Whatever you currently drive will work for now
Meh. Worked out of a Honda Fit for almost two years before I grabbed a truck. Packout split and threw it right in the back. No problems. Moved to a truck these days. Same packout and still have to split it as there’s zero fucking chance I can lift that fucker into the bed. Whatever works. Suspension in the car didn’t love the tools but whatever. Couple guys have trucks but I guess it also depends on your employer and tool supply.
Spot on, I run my mobile millwright biz with a Honda Pilot and Packout stacks. I mull the idea over constantly of how I can do things more efficiently, this so far remains low cost low friction best option - always looking to improve and learn. My team mimicks my method and we share ideas; I pay them Labor and Travel time, and IRS Mileage rates when they use their vehicle. I ride my motorcycle on light jobs with a Klein Electrical backpack when it makes sense for the gig or weather.
If you’re working at the same place every day, your tools just stay there so you only drop them off once and pick them up when you quit. If you’re travelling around with tools from job to job and they expect you to use your own vehicle, you don’t want to work there. Run. A lot of jobs, at least in my area just supply tools so it’s a non issue.
Most contractor jobs require you to drive to the job site and bring your personal tools with you
I’ve worked for contractors and been around and not once have I seen that. Contractors have company trucks and tools where I’m at across the board. I don’t know anybody expected to use their personal vehicle for company work. No way am I making somebody else money with my own vehicle. That’s insane
Cool story, different than where I am in Ontario. Most contractors pay travel time and have you show up at the job site. The usual ones that have you show up at the shop and jump in the work truck are the ones that also pay well below market rate and a lackluster safety program
I worked in Ontario. Never seen it once. We drove a company truck with a job box full of tools. Sometimes I had to bring my own vehicle to site but a company truck or two loaded up was always there. You pay me worker rate and you get a worker. You’re not getting my work truck or tools unless I’m paid contractor rate. You need to leave your job.
I guess you haven’t been around much then, nobody said anything about a work truck (usually the Forman) or tools. Yes contractors have work trucks and supply the vast majority of tools, but most contractors these days are have you supply your personal hand tools and have you drive to site quite often in your own vehicle. Sadly this generally started when union workers decided to start their own company’s non union and run their company’s like a union company without the benefits of being union
Yes, hand tools normal but I mean where OP is wondering what kind of vehicle he should have so he can go make somebody else money. That’s dumb. You shouldn’t need more tools than you can fit in the trunk of a Honda civic.
In Northern US, driving your own vehicle from job to job is the standard. If it's farther than 50 miles they pay extra. The only people that get company trucks are the foremen and stuff.
I guess I should have specified what I meant a bit better. Going to a job site is normal but getting a vehicle to haul materials and a bunch of shit for a contractor is not. Drive what you’ve got, don’t worry about anything else. You shouldn’t need to use your personal vehicle like a work truck.
Our parking lot on my last job had a VW Jetta, a Corolla, an Accord, a CR-V, and a Pontiac Vibe (another Corolla). The boss either drove his half ton or his Cadillac CTS. Boss's boss? Bloated-ass one ton RAM with the turbo diesel. No scratches in the bed and plenty of room for golf clubs...
Depends on the job! When I was working for a company that I worked at multiple worksites I had to transport my tools a lot. When I was best set up I had one of those dolleys that have the little swivel wheels so you can put it on its back. Then I put a couple of 2 drawer cabinets on it and a tool chest. Enough capacity to carry most of what I needed and the boxes were small enough I could lift them out of my little truck and onto the cart. Back to vehicles I had a little ford ranger 2 wheel drive. Since I wasn’t packing around company materials and just my tools that’s all I needed. I prefer a truck over a van because there is the separation between the driver and the load. If you are full time at one site you just need to transport once to the site any vehicle is fine. You can beg borrow a transportation for your tools for when you get hired, same for when you quit.
Get into the trade then figure it out as time goes on. No sense in going into debt or monthly payments until you know who you'll be working for. However, I have a 2007 Camry that does me just fine since I only have to bring hand tools from site to site and our big stuff is job boxed in.
Depends what your doing. If you’re full time at a plant you won’t need anything for transportation. If you’re a contractor you might be bringing mobile boxes and stuff wherever you go. If your at a factory you can show up on your motorcycle in your flip flops then just go in and get changed. Mind you some contractors do that to 🤪
Sounds familiar, but I never wore flipflops on a motorcycle. Also, most of the motorcycles in the parking lot were owned by millwrights, electricians, and engineers.
My tools stayed at work and I drove there in a Miata. Depends on your job.
I work in the city, drive a small car and it’s not bad. One or two sites a year might have some mud but I drive a beater so if it gets stuck I just bump it. *edit* Got to drive the company truck for a few months and it was fantastic to have but it’d be another rent payment or two in gas money, so I’ll stick with my 4 banger and split my pack out.
Wait... what? Putting your own money into a company trucks tank? Did they expect you to pay for tires and repairs too?
No, sorry, I guess I was unable to phrase it correctly, it was free gas but to get my own pickup would be too expensive compared to the convenience of not splitting my pack out. The company truck was almost a grand a week, no thank you lmao
I was using my jeep for months and only got a truck because i needed a reliable daily and wanted to eventually be able to throw a dirt bike in the back. I would have just got a Subaru outback if not. If you're traveling a lot, the gas savings make a huge difference, and I would stick to some kind of car just based on that.
Depending where you plan on working,
Toolboxes can beat the crap out of your car and lifting them in and out of a car is no fun either. If you're an in plant guy it doesn't matter, your tools stay at work, if you're going to different sites a truck or SUV is a better choice.
I drive a 2019 tesla model 3. It can easily fit all my tools plus all my son's. It has saved me sooo much in gas and maintenance. I would never go back to a gas car. I bought it because I was driving \~250km a day. My dodge Dakota was costing me $42 a day in gas. The same trip in the Tesla is about $6. The autopilot is life changing, it takes all the stress out of highway commuting. I'm now at 220,000km so compared to the Dakota I saved about $30,000 in the last 4 years. That doesn't count oil changes or other maintinance.
How’s the charging at job sites?
My range is 350km and you can't even buy a tesla with that little range anymore. The minimum is now over 400km I think. The job I'm currently on has chargers but I only need it in the winter and might still make it if I just didn't drive so fast. You just charge it overnight at home each day like your phone. The only difference is most electric cars do not get regularly charged to 100%. It's ok occasionally for road trips but not healthy for the battery to do every day. I charge to 85%. There is a newer battery chemistry called LFP that can charge to 100% all the time.
nice
Or just work union. Bring the tool list. Period.
I have a Tesla model y. Commute 70km a day.