How to Manage Truck Stock Inventory for Field Techs
The short answer: Manage truck stock by treating each van as its own stocking location with a set par level for every part, a reorder point that triggers a restock, and a record of every transfer from the warehouse to the truck. Count on a schedule, replenish from the warehouse or a purchase order, and cost parts to the job when a tech uses them. CRMb tracks stock per truck and per warehouse, moves parts between them, and flags what is running low.
A stocked truck is a tech who fixes the problem on the first visit. An unstocked one is a second trip, an idle hour at the supply house, and a customer wondering why the job is not done. The gap between them is inventory discipline, and most shops run their trucks on memory, which is why parts vanish and jobs stall.
This is how to run truck stock like the asset it is: what to carry, how much, and how to keep it counted without turning your techs into clerks.
What truck stock is, and why it leaks money
Truck stock (also called van stock or trunk stock) is the inventory a field tech carries so they can complete common jobs without a supply-house run. Done right, it raises first-visit completion, the single biggest lever on field-service profit, because a second trip has all the cost of the first and none of the new revenue.
Truck stock leaks money three ways:
- Stockouts. The one part the tech needed was not on the truck, so the job needs a second visit.
- Shrinkage. Parts walk off, get used and never logged, or sit forgotten in a bin until they are obsolete.
- Over-stocking. Thousands of dollars of parts riding around on ten trucks is cash you cannot use, and some of it will expire or go out of spec before it is installed.
The fix for all three is the same: know what is on each truck, set a target, and replenish to it on a rhythm.
Step 1: Decide what belongs on the truck (par levels)
A par level is the target quantity of an item you want on the truck at all times. Set par levels from what techs actually use, not what might theoretically come up. Pull your last few months of jobs and rank parts by how often they were installed. The top of that list belongs on every truck.
A sample par sheet for a plumbing service van:
| Part | Par level | Reorder point |
|---|---|---|
| Wax rings | 6 | 2 |
| 3/4 in supply lines | 10 | 4 |
| Fill valves | 4 | 2 |
| Flappers, common | 12 | 4 |
| P-traps, 1.5 in | 4 | 2 |
| Shutoff valves, 1/4 turn | 8 | 3 |
| Pipe thread tape | 10 | 3 |
The par level answers "how many should be here," and the reorder point answers "at what count do I restock." Set them per item, because six wax rings and one specialty pump are not the same decision.
Step 2: Set reorder points per item
A reorder point is the count at which you trigger a restock, chosen so you replenish before you hit zero. The simple version:
Reorder point = average usage during restock time + a small safety buffer
If a truck uses about 2 fill valves a week and you restock weekly, you would set the reorder point around 2 to 3, so the tech is never down to nothing before the next replenishment. Fast-moving cheap parts get a generous buffer; slow, expensive, or bulky parts get a lean one. The full method, including how to size the safety buffer, is in reorder points and low-stock alerts.
The point of a reorder point is that restocking stops being a judgment call. When a part hits its number, it goes on the restock list automatically, no tech deciding "eh, I probably have enough."
Step 3: Track transfers from warehouse to truck
Every part that moves from the warehouse to a truck is a transfer, and if you do not record it, both counts are wrong: the warehouse thinks it still has the part, and the truck's count never went up. Multiply that across ten trucks and your inventory numbers are fiction within a month.
Treating each truck as a distinct stocking location is what makes transfers meaningful. CRMb's inventory is multi-location by design: warehouse, and one location per truck or van. Moving parts is a recorded transfer that debits the warehouse and credits the truck, so both counts stay right. When a tech restocks from the shop in the morning, that is a transfer, not a mystery.
This also makes accountability possible. If a truck's count says 6 wax rings and the tech has 2, either 4 got used on jobs (and should be costed there) or 4 are unaccounted for. You cannot ask that question if you never recorded what went on the truck.
Step 4: Count and replenish on a schedule
Truck stock stays accurate only if it is counted on a rhythm. Pick one and hold it:
- Weekly restock is the backbone. Once a week, each truck is replenished back to par from the warehouse. Fast movers stay stocked, and the counts reset to a known state.
- Cycle counts spot-check a handful of items per truck each week rather than counting everything at once. Over a month you have counted the whole truck without ever stopping work for a full inventory.
- End-of-job logging is the ideal: the tech records the part used the moment they use it, so counts drop in real time and the restock list builds itself.
The replenishment source is either the warehouse (a transfer) or, when the warehouse is also low, a purchase order to your supplier. When you receive that PO, the parts land in the warehouse and flow out to the trucks.
Barcode scanning: the fast way to keep counts honest
The reason truck counts drift is friction. If logging a used part means typing a SKU into a form at the end of a long day, it will not happen. Scanning removes the friction.
CRMb's inventory supports barcode and QR scanning, so a tech points a phone or tablet at the part, and the count updates. Restocking a truck is scanning items as they load; logging a used part is a scan on the job. The counts stay honest because keeping them honest takes two seconds, not two minutes. A shop moving from memory to scanning usually finds its "phantom stock," parts the system thought it had but did not, within the first month.
Truck stock and job costing
Here is the payoff that makes all the counting worth it. When a tech pulls a part from the truck and logs it to a job, two things should happen at once: the truck count drops, and the part's cost lands on that job.
Costed at average cost, that part becomes real material cost on the job's margin. Combine it with the tech's real punched hours through the Punch pairing, and the job shows a true cost, labor plus materials, the moment it is done. That is the difference between "we think this service line is profitable" and knowing which jobs and which trucks actually make money. See average cost inventory for job materials for how the costing works.
Truck stock, tracked this way, stops being an expense you cannot see and becomes a line in every job's profit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is truck stock inventory?
Truck stock is the inventory a field tech carries in their van so they can finish common jobs without a supply-house run. It typically covers the fastest-moving parts for your trade. Managed well, it raises first-visit completion, which is one of the biggest drivers of field-service profitability.
How do I decide what to keep on a service truck?
Pull your last few months of jobs and rank parts by how often they were installed. The most frequently used items belong on every truck at a set par level. Slow-moving, expensive, or specialty parts are better kept at the warehouse and pulled only when a job calls for them.
What is a par level for truck stock?
A par level is the target quantity of a part you want on the truck at all times. When a restock happens, you top the truck back up to its par levels. Pairing a par level with a reorder point, the count that triggers a restock, means replenishment happens automatically instead of by guesswork.
How do I stop parts going missing from trucks?
Record every transfer from the warehouse to the truck so both counts stay accurate, and log parts to a job the moment a tech uses them. Barcode scanning makes both fast enough to actually happen. When counts are tracked per truck, an unexplained gap is visible instead of hidden in one big pile.
How often should techs count truck stock?
Restock to par weekly as the backbone, and use cycle counts, spot-checking a few items per truck each week, to keep counts honest without stopping work for a full inventory. The best case is logging parts as they are used, so counts stay current in real time and the restock list builds itself.
Getting started
Build a par sheet for one truck this week: your top 20 parts, a par level and reorder point for each. Restock to par, and record every transfer from the warehouse. That single truck will tell you how much your others are leaking.
CRMb tracks stock per truck and warehouse, moves parts between them with recorded transfers, scans barcodes to keep counts honest, and costs used parts to the job, on Mac, iPad, and the web. Start free and get your trucks under control.