Blog · HVAC · March 18, 2026 · 7 min read
HVAC Dispatch: Check Truck Stock Before You Assign the Call
Dispatch is inventory’s first customer. If they assign work by geography only, you will keep sending the closest empty van.
Closest truck is not the right truck
Mapping software optimizes miles. Inventory software optimizes whether the job can finish. A van ten minutes farther with the part beats a van around the corner that will visit a supply house.
Write that rule down. When the board is on fire, people revert to the map. The rule has to be visible next to the board or inside the dispatch screen.
A 20-second stock glance
You do not need a novel. For a no-cool: capacitors and contactors. For a drain backup: pump and fittings. For a no-heat: ignitor and flame sensor in season. If those are zero, do not assign that van.
FleetStock’s office view is built for that glance. Open the truck. See qty. Assign or transfer. Twenty seconds, not a meeting.
Text the tech the gap, not a pep talk
If they must take a light van, tell them which part is missing before they leave the driveway. They can grab it from the shop or a sister truck. Surprise shortages are what create angry customers and angry techs.
The scan history also tells dispatch who actually uses what. A tech who never scans cannot be trusted on the glance. Fix the habit before you trust the number.
Morning huddle is a stock meeting
Five minutes. Which vans are below min on the daily layer. Who is restocking them. Which quoted jobs need a kit. Then release the board. Shops that skip this spend the afternoon on the phone.
Put the low-stock list on a TV if you want. The medium is optional. The list is not.
Close the loop at night
Every van that went below min today should be on tonight’s restock. Dispatch should not discover the same empty truck tomorrow. That is how you burn the same customer twice.
When restock is scanned, tomorrow’s glance is true. When restock is “we tossed a box in,” you are back to folklore.
FAQ
Should dispatch or the warehouse own min stock?
Warehouse owns filling it. Dispatch owns not assigning a zero. Both need the same live count.
What if every truck is out of a part?
That is a buying failure, not a dispatch failure. Raise min at the warehouse and stop selling same-day until the PO lands.
Can techs self-assign if they see stock?
In small shops, yes. In larger shops, dispatch still assigns but techs should see their own van so they can warn the board.
See what is on every truck this week
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