For many in agriculture, your truck functions as both your livelihood, your transportation, and your entertainment. It helps you move cattle, takes you to town, and to your favorite fishing hole — perhaps all in the same week. With trucks being such a versatile and critical aspect of farm life, it’s important that these tools be ready for whatever task is at hand today. For this, you need to meet Tmat.
Tmat is a modular truck bed mat that combines the protection of a mat or bed liner with the incredible versatility of truck bed organization. Tmat is made of modular panels, and leverages cargo blockers and other accessories to help keep your tools and equipment from sliding around the truck bed, causing damage or forcing you to crawl to the cab to drag out your equipment.
The Need for Organized Truck Beds in Agriculture and Trades
Keeping your farm running requires a lot of tools and a lot of moving around. There is a lot of ground to cover, a lot of fences to maintain, a dozen/hundred/thousand acres of land to clear, and not enough hours in the day to get it done. The constant ticking of the clock is one of the many reasons why farmers choose to invest in a truck. You can haul a trailer, bring tools to the outskirts of your property, and head to town in the same vehicle. But what happens if your truck is not ready to serve?
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), U.S. farm machinery and tool expenses were around $42.5 billion in 2022. We know that those in agriculture invest heavily in the equipment they need to keep their business open, and that includes expensive tools to repair the many things that break on a daily basis. When the tools you need aren’t where they are supposed to be it costs valuable time or requires they be replaced. A messy truck bed is a very common place to lose track of your equipment; things fall out, slide into crevices, or get buried under a pile of other tools.
Then of course there is the repeated and frustrating task of clambering up on your truck bed a couple dozen times a day to retrieve the tools and equipment that slid up to your cab during transit. Even when you can keep track of your tools, they’re often not where they’re easy to get to. The constant climbing up and down of truck beds while dragging out heavy tools adds to the significant risk those in agriculture and the trades face for joint-related issues. According to the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH), lower back pain is one of the most common conditions farmers face. It’s often caused by repetitive loading or poor posture while handling heavy tools or materials.
How Tmat’s Grid-Based Cargo Organization System Helps
Tmat is designed to assist in keeping your truck bed organized and your tools and equipment where you last left them while also protecting your truck bed. Using the cargo blockers, you can prevent your toolbox, buckets, feed, or equipment from sliding around the bed causing damage or forcing you to stress your joints by repeated trips to the back of the cab.
When your day in the fields or around the perimeter are done, you can rearrange the Tmat blockers and reorient your truck bed for tomorrow morning’s break-of-day fishing trip, or for a run to the co-op in town to pick up equipment and feed for the next task. The flexibility of Tmat’s modular system allows your truck to be ready for whatever task you have that day, while protecting your truck bed and keeping your gear where it can be easily reached. If Tmat gets dirty enough to be a bother, you can slide it all the way out and hit it with a hose, shop vac, air compressor, or power washer.
How Mr. Austin Uses His Tmat At The Farm
Tmat General Manager Kenny Austin uses his Tmat at the farm for a variety of purposes.
“I got involved in Tmat after purchasing a kit for a cross-country trip through Alaksa. I was so impressed by the performance that upon arriving back home I reoriented it for the farm and put it through some pretty rigorous tests. After surprising my every expectation, I tested it’s compatibility with my Gooseneck and I was in! I called the company the next day to discuss how I could get more involved.” – Kenny Austin.
Now Kenny works as the General Manager of Tmat, and continues to improve upon the product and add new versatility that he tests on his ranch in Oklahoma. From transporting tools and fence repair equipment to keeping things organized around his gooseneck, the Tmat is now an integral part of his truck.
If you want to learn more about Tmat and how it can maximize your truck’s efficiency, visit www.tmat.com.
