Brendon, you're in Jersey, right?
Just throw it out the window and foget about it :-)

I actually like Ernie's idea of adding it to the concept of a truck roll. It's true it needs to be accounted for and I have tried all methods and have yet to come up with a good one.

My van stays disorganized. I tend to it weekly but it takes me hours by then.

+1 on the gas thing.

I love the idea of charging the client for trash disposal, whether they "know" it or not, ill try a few things. I do clean up the front of the van when i roll in to the gas station, my issue is the back of the van.

I love the BIN idea, that is awesome. How do you silkscreen a logo on there? the only thing i dont like is how much room it takes up in the back of a van/trailer.


Im working on that right now, spending a fortune on organization. Ive taken a stop watch and every time i went back to the van i started it, on a 4 hour install 38minutes of that was in the van due to it being totally disorganized

Only 38 minutes. You are winning.

Dang I need to get my life together!

We use something like this, collapses down flat and store it behind a seat or something when not in use. [Link: homedepot.com]

Holy Sh!t that is brilliant :)

That collapsable container is a great idea for trash.

re: the bins. They are available in multiple sizes and also styles with collapsable design however the collapsable ones we have are perforated (similar to break down milk crates) and not good for trash, better for small parts.

Since you asked about screen printing. I learned how to do this years ago but have since moved on from being a hobbyist at it and am lucky enough to have a client who owns a printing company. Anyway...you can go a couple routes; buy a kit at a place like Hobby Lobby or make your own which is what I always did. You essentially stretch silk (the finer the silk the higher the resolution) over a frame, you then apply photo emulsion paste over both sides of the entire silk screen, dry it in a dark ventilated room and then expose your image to the screen covered in glass while under a UV lamp (or direct sunlight but UV lamp is better for control and keeping away shadows). You then wash it off and then squeegee your ink. That's essentially it and there are different types of inks and curing agents to use depending upon your medium. I'm sure there's videos and tutorials on the net or feel free to ask me more specifics if you are into it. Kind of a fun hobby. Ok, I'll stop rambling about molly homemaker 101 now...

Dude, you're still in the van?
Where's the trailer at ?!

Chris or others, have you found any services that would do silk screen work for you?
I wanted to come up with a design to silk screen company name to 1U rack blanks, or the back/top of equipment (in lieu of doing stickers).
I saw others just take 1U or 2U to printing company, but I would only need 5-10 per year and I don't think setup cost /per item cost would be worth it. On the other side, I've never priced that option but I though someone talked about it being $65+ for laser engraving.

I'll bet that there are places that will do rack plate printing for cheap, but you'll probably have the problem you have (okay, I might have) with cheap business card printers: paper, ink thickness and color are inconsistent from run to run.

We have 2 vans. Everyday I ask them to show up early and get van ready for the day. At end of day, we have a recycle spot and dumpster on site. There is no reason not to clean the van everyday. Customers will look in van and determine what kind of job will be done. We lose time in the day by doing this but this is very important to me. Daily clean.

We usually use this. Hard hat required (OSHA)!!

Havent even had time to build it out, Ive actually just been using it as a storage place for all my shipments, end of January is when ill have time to build it out! But in my old trailer i still had this same issue, granted i did have room for a small trash bin :)


Awesome! thanks for the information!


lol! but you cant fit that in a van! :) actually for smaller projects and theater buildouts ive used this http://www.thebagster.com/ Works amazingly well and im always amazed at the amount of crap you can fit in there! far cheaper then renting a dumpster for a few weeks, and the best part is you can buy it at lowes!

Couple of options exist: Middle Atlantic, they have 100 unit minimum order. PanelCrafters from Liberty, no minimum order. Any local print shop that does screen printing can handle this. There will be a setup fee and that will vary based on complexity and number of colors in your design (single color is lowest cost). Local guys typically won't have a minimum in my experience; show up with your 10 1U blanks and they'll do them. If you already have a hi-res logo ready for them in the proper file format it shouldn't cost too much for the setup and I prefer to deal local with this type of stuff so I can a) give back to local businesses and b) have instant gratification and results if there is an issue or need something quick.