Your work truck or van is your mobile office, workshop, toolbox, warehouse, and even where you might spend a night on the jobsite. Protecting, insulating, and enhancing the van’s interior (walls, ceilings, doors, and floor) are an important step in creating the perfect environment for employees and van operators.
The work, delivery, professional, and service van industry is booming and changing. The explosion in demand is fueled by national home delivery companies like Amazon making home delivery a daily activity for many Americans, plus the advent of professional services coming to your home. In 2019 alone, Americans received delivery of over 8.6 billion packages.
Vans are no longer just for delivery. Today, you can get your dog groomed, a manicure, and even hire a personal trainer to exercise all within a salon or gym on wheels. There has also been a boom in traditional trade services that require fleets for lawn service, home painters, and plumbers. Needless to say, the Do-it-for-Me and Bring-it-to-Me era is here to stay. One of the most interesting uses is a new service launched from the COVID-19 impact with face-to-face shopping for women’s clothing. This involved a firm tasked to design a modular, easy-to-install, mobile shopping boutique that could serve as the store, fitting rooms, and warehouse all inside a Mercedes Sprinter work van.
ENHANCE YOUR VAN
All this new demand has created a push for better interior products to enhance the cab and cargo environments of the van. This is true not only for protection but also for aesthetics and function. Genesis Products, located in Elkhart, Indiana, within the heart of RV country, is known for supplying RV OEMs with rich and inviting interiors. Genesis Products develops high-impact commercial cargo bay flooring and walls that also feature laminated panels with the look and feel of wallpaper as well as textured paints. Fortunately, these Genesis products can also be used in commercial vans where more and more van owners and operators want a high-design appearance to enhance where they spend most of their time—in their work van.
Recently, to meet the cargo liner demand, Genesis launched a new customer-facing product called Welfit™ Kits. Welfit cargo liners are lightweight, durable, and made in the USA. They are engineered to prevent denting and preserve the interior walls, ceilings, doors, and floors to extend the vehicles’ life, add performance, and retain the resale or trade-in value. Further, Welfit Kits come pre-cut to your vehicle’s chassis and are easy to install without tools. Customers can choose kits that include floors, ceilings, doors, and wall protection.
PURCHASE CONSIDERATIONS
When shopping for van liners or interior wall treatments for your work van, how do you know what to look for? Here are key features to look for when purchasing liners and panels for your upfitted work van:
Protection—First and foremost, you want to be sure that your wall liner kit is durable, offering extra protection. Quality van liners protect your investment and help protect your equipment or products inside your van, too. Pre-cut panels that fit your vehicle chassis are important to ensure the panels perform their best.
Insulation—If you want to improve the noise dampening qualities of your van liner or provide a degree of climate control to the back of your van (whether to protect delicate deliverables or make a more comfortable workspace) consider insulated wall panels.
Lightweight Materials—Any time you’re adding more features to your work van, weight can be a concern. You don’t want to sacrifice fuel efficiency for added protection. That’s why using lightweight, plastic van liners and accessories is important.
Easy to Install—Time is money for upfitters and vehicle graphic installers, so select an upfit kit that comes pre-cut and ready to install.
MEETING DEMAND
Van manufacturers are working to meet the demands of this growing vehicle market. Some also see vans as the perfect incubator for the transportation industry’s move toward electric-powered vehicles. Once these efficient vehicles hit the streets, another boom is expected for fleets. This influx of new vehicles will move a large used fleet into the secondary market where vans will get repurposed and re-upfitted to a second and possibly third life.
Additionally, making a used van new again is creating an uptick for truck and van accessory dealers, vehicle graphic companies, and upfitters. According to Katelyn Jones, Welfit East Coast regional sales manager, “We see a large number of exterior graphic wrapping companies entering the interior upfit space. It’s a natural product line and service expansion since they already have the fleet van in their possession while installing the vinyl graphics. We need more of these companies to meet the growing upfit demand.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Genesis Products was formed in 2002 with four people. Today the company operates 10 plants and employs over 1,000 people. Genesis provides lightweight wood and non-wood composite components to RV and secondary automotive industries. Its Welfit cargo kit products are manufactured in the US with US-made materials and know-how at the Genesis Welformed Division located in Ft Wayne, Indiana. Find out more, visit www.genesisproductsinc.com and www.welfitkits.com.
