A Practical Plumbing Truck Stock List (Residential Service)

The closer list

Supply lines, shutoffs, wax rings, flappers, fill valves, 1/2" and 3/4" ball valves, common PEX and copper fittings, cement, tape, and a couple of disposal flanges. That list pays the rent.

Put those on every service van with min stock. Everything else is a candidate for the warehouse until data says otherwise.

Water heaters are a kit, not a lifestyle

Do not carry a water heater on every truck “just in case” unless you truly sell same-day swaps every day. Carry the flex, valves, and fittings. Pull the tank from the shop when the job is sold.

A tank on a van that never sells one is a dented, dirty $900 paperweight.

Toilets and trim

One common toilet and a set of seats/supplies is enough for many residential vans. Specialty comfort-height or one-piece units wait at the shop. Trim kits get stolen by entropy — count them or stop stocking them on the truck.

Photo the common fill valve. It will be the most replaced part you still grab wrong when you are in a hurry.

Gas and water stay labeled apart

If you do gas, give it a zone and a category. Yellow and blue do not mix in a dark van. Your inventory categories should match the physical split so restock cannot dump a gas cock into a water bin.

New helpers should be able to restock without asking a journeyman what “that yellow valve” is. The label and the photo do that job.

Rebuild the list from scans in 45 days

Your first list will be wrong. That is fine. After 45 days of job scans, sort by quantity used. Promote the surprises. Demote the museum pieces. This is the only stock list that deserves to be laminated.

FleetStock reports are how you do that without arguing from memory in the shop kitchen.

FAQ