Your truck is your single best marketing vehicle (pun intended). It is an essential part of your brand building efforts and merits significant attention. Here are nine things that will make your fleet more effective.

1. Any color but white

Between 60% and 70% of commercial vans are white. Among plumbing contractors, the number of white vans might even be more predominant. If you use white vans, this means you blend in instead of standing out. Yuck.

Even more yuck is how white vans are perceived. White vans carry negative connotations among consumers, particularly women. One of the slang terms for a white van is “abduction van.” Many women will not park next to one.

If white vans are way too common and carry negative connotations, why use them? Use any color but white. Preferably, use a base color for your vans that is unique in your market.

2. Van image is brand image

Your vehicles are a projection of your brand into the market, into your community. If your trucks are dirty, your brand is dirty. If your trucks are beat up, your brand is beat up. Look at every service vehicle as an advertisement for your brand that will make over 30 thousand impressions in your market every single day.

3. Less is more

Recognizing the advertising possibilities of a truck and the capabilities of today’s van wraps, many plumbing contractors go crazy. They try to convey as much information as possible and cover every possible square inch of the vehicle. When you try to communicate too much, you communicate nothing. Instead, focus. What do you most want people to remember? Is it your logo? Your website? Your brand image? Your unique selling proposition? Don’t try to do too much. Less can be more.

4. Go big

Some plumbing contractors attempt to save money by using smaller vans. They view the truck for its utility, not its marketing potential. In truth, it’s a mobile billboard. Spend a little more for a larger billboard and its greater advertising impact.

Your vehicles are a projection of your brand into the market, into your community. If your trucks are dirty, your brand is dirty. If your trucks are beat up, your brand is beat up. Look at every service vehicle as an advertisement for your brand that will make over 30 thousand impressions in your market every single day.

5. Be different

Do not look like everyone else. Be different. Be different in color. Be different in style. Be different in overall wrap design. Different stands out and that’s what you want.

6. Remember the fifth side

Plumbers forget that vans have five visible sides. You will be different and stand out when you pay attention to the roof of your van. No one on the street might see it, but roof wraps will jump to anyone looking out of a second-story window or looking from a hill.

Some plumbers hesitate because ladders might be in place. No problem. Simply, design accordingly so that your message is visible through the ladders.

7. Image doesn’t end with wraps

Your well-wrapped, bold, different truck wrap can fall apart if your plumbers fail to wash the trucks. Your wrap can actually work against you if your plumbers drive like maniacs. Your brand image includes cleanliness and driving courtesy.

8. Monitor

Using GPS tracking systems of your vehicles keeps people honest. It provides accountability for driving speed. The fact that it tracks and records locations helps prevent moonlighting. GPS ensures you can always locate your trucks.

9. Build processes for your fleet

Create processes and checklists for your vehicles. This includes cleaning and maintenance. It includes daily activities. It includes stocking. It includes parking at the customer’s house.