While this truck wasn’t his design, Foster is pleased with the layout and the truck’s many features.

“I really like the way this was built,” he says. “If I was to make my own truck, it would be very similar to this.”

In the past, he had a 16’ “bread truck,” but his new one is a 20’ wide body. Both he and his customers appreciate the extra space the new truck offers, as now, two customers can pass each other shoulder-to-shoulder in the aisle without having to move out of the other’s way. Foster’s only regret is not having gotten a larger truck sooner.

“I would have bought a bigger truck in the beginning had I realized, but I didn't want to go too big,” he explains. “I didn't want to have too big a truck route. And here I am eight years later saying, ‘Why didn't I do that in the first place?’”

Other features include two tall and one short set of shelves and outside storage lockers. The shelves have matching lighting to the rest of the truck, and Foster is able to wheel them in and out depending on whether he’s got a toolbox and cart on the truck. As for the lockers, he notes that there’s a heater in one, a generator in another, and four other compartments where he can keep some of his larger items that don’t move as often but are good to have on the truck.

Foster describes his organization style as “managed chaos.”

“I keep a box for each day of the week in my garage for the needs for that day, so I don't have everything on the truck at one time.”

He also likes to keep a shelf at the front of the truck full of new and promotional products so it’s the first thing his customers see. He switches the items out every four weeks when he gets a new flyer with the latest new products.

To keep all the small items organized, he uses a lot of hanging strips as well as four vertical pull-out shelves. Two of the shelves have bungee cords for hanging products, while the other two have Velcro carpet. Foster likes these as he finds that they hold a lot of items in one small spot.

For his workspace, he has an L-shaped desk behind the driver’s seat. Here, he has space for his printer, his laptop, and a monitor to run the sales system. He also plans on adding a microwave to this space. In his drawers, he keeps his ratchet repair tools, office supplies, broken tools, and folder organizers to hold his catalogs.