PlumbingBossPro Blog — Running a Plumbing Business

Adding a Second Van to a Plumbing Business: When and How

The second van is the biggest step a plumbing business takes. One van is a plumber with a business. Two vans is a business with plumbers. It means payroll, a second set of tools, a second insurance line and, most of all, someone other than the owner walking into customers' homes. Done right, it is the start of a real company. Done too early or too loosely, it is a lot of stress for not much more money.

Signs You Are Ready

Recurring work is one of the best signs that a second van will stay busy, as covered in Building Recurring Work in a Plumbing Business With Yearly Flush and Service Plans. Other signs:

• You are turning work away. Calls go to voicemail because you are under a house, and some of those callers do not call back.
• The Waiting List keeps growing. Flushes and maintenance that came due sit overdue because emergencies keep pushing them out.
• Estimates wait too long. Water heater quotes go out days late because you only have evenings to write them.
• Your prices are right. You are making real profit on one van. Adding a second van to an underpriced business just doubles the problem.

If most of these are true, the work is there. The next question is whether the business is ready to hand it to someone else.

Get the Records Out of Your Head First

When you are the only plumber, you know every house. You know where the shut-off is at the house on Elm, which customer has the tankless, and which landlord wants a call before anyone goes in. The new plumber knows none of it.

Before the second van rolls, make sure the houses carry their own history:

• Equipment on every address. Water heater, softener, sump pump, sewer cleanout and main shut-off, with brand, model, serial, year installed and location.
• Access notes. Gate codes, dogs, where to park, who to call first.
• Past notes. What was done last time and what was recommended.

In PlumbingBossPro, all of that shows on the tech's job card. A plumber in his first week sees “Garage · Shut-off is in the meter box at the curb” before he gets out of the van.

Split the Work on Purpose

The most common two-van setup splits by type of work:

• Van 1: repairs, service calls and drains. Reactive, fast-moving.
• Van 2: water heaters and maintenance. Planned, with the Waiting List feeding it.

Some owners split by area instead, especially in a spread-out market. Whichever you choose, keep it consistent so customers and plumbers know what to expect. The dispatch board shows jobs by day and filters by van, and auto-route sets each van's order Closest First or Furthest First from the shop. Each tech sees their own route on the phone.

Decide Who Drives the New Van

There are two common paths. Hire an experienced plumber to run the new van while you keep running yours, or move yourself to the planned work and put the new hire on service calls under your eye. Each has tradeoffs, and hiring itself is covered in Hiring Plumbers for a Small Plumbing Business.

Either way, the new plumber needs a personal PIN and a van assignment in the system. Their time clock, jobs, photos and completions are tracked under their name from day one.

Watch the Second Van Without Riding in It

You cannot ride along every day. You can see what is happening:

• Crew GPS on the office map shows where each van is.
• Start, Skip and Complete show the progress of each job as it happens.
• Photos and notes show what was found and what was done.
• Invoices at Complete show that the work was billed.

The goal is not to watch over the new plumber's shoulder. It is to know the business is running without having to call.

Budget for the Ramp-Up

A second van rarely pays for itself in the first month. There is training time, slower jobs while the new plumber learns your way, and a few callbacks along the way. Plan for a ramp-up period and set aside cash to cover it.

The Second Van Is a System Test

Everything you have built shows up when the second van rolls. If the records are good, prices are set and billing is tight, the new van adds profit. If not, it adds chaos. Get the system right, then add the van. For more on growing a plumbing company, visit the PlumbingBossPro plumbing business software page.