At a glance: The fastest way to keep your grip and electric departments moving on an LA shoot is to rent a truck already built for the work rather than an empty box you have to organize. Galpin Rentals offers specialized truck build-outs for Grip, Electric, Prop, Camera, and Art, from cargo vans up to 10-tons, available for rental or purchase, alongside its well-known Production 17-foot Super Cubes. Add battery-electric runners where they fit your workflow and you have a fleet that suits both your call sheet and your sustainability reporting. Here is how to choose.
What a Grip Truck Is, and Why Size Matters
On a film set, “grip truck” is shorthand for the workhorse that hauls the grip and electric package: stands, flags, cable, distro, sandbags, dollies, and the lighting inventory that keeps a scene lit.
The important thing to understand is that it is an enclosed truck, not an open deck. A grip and electric package needs weather protection, security overnight, and interior shelving that lets a best boy find a specific piece of gear without unloading everything in front of it. That is why the department standard is a cube or a built-out box rather than a stake bed.
Productions talk about these trucks by tonnage and box length, and the practical ladder looks like this:
- 15-foot Small Cube. The lightest option, useful when the package is genuinely small or parking is the binding constraint.
- 17-foot Super Cube. Galpin’s signature production truck, and the workhorse for a great many commercial, television, and smaller feature packages. There are also dedicated 17-foot Camera Cubes and Wardrobe Cubes on the same chassis.
- 20-foot 4-ton. A step up in box volume when the package outgrows a 17-footer but a 5-ton is more truck than the location can take.
- 24-foot 5-ton. The familiar default for a full grip and electric department on a feature or larger commercial. Crew cab, so it moves people as well as gear, and every experienced driver and best boy on your crew already knows it.
- 26-foot and 30-foot 10-tons. For bigger builds and longer runs. Both require a commercial driver’s license. If your driver does not hold a CDL, a 10-ton is off the table regardless of what the load calls for, so confirm licensing before you build a schedule around one.
- 14-foot Shorty Forty. A box on a tow unit chassis, which matters if you are also pulling a trailer.
Purpose-Built Beats an Empty Box
This is the part worth asking about specifically, because it changes how your load-in goes.
Galpin builds out trucks by department, for Grip, Electric, Prop, Camera, and Art, from cargo vans through 10-tons. That means shelving, racking, and interior layout designed around what the department actually carries rather than a bare box you spend the first hour of the day organizing.
The company also handles complete truck shelving including roll-in, hanging, lumber, and ladder racks, plus cargo control: ratchet straps, sash, furniture pads, and the rest. Build-outs are available for purchase as well as rental, which is worth knowing if you run a long-form production or a recurring series and are weighing rental against owning.
If your package is unusual, raise it early. A build-out conversation three weeks out gets you a different answer than one three days out.
Match the Truck to the Department
Grip and electric are not the only departments that live out of a truck. Building your transportation list by department is the cleanest way to avoid renting too much or too little.
- Grip and electric: a built-out cube or 5-ton for the gear package, cable, and stands. Enclosed, shelved, securable.
- Camera: a dedicated camera cube keeps bodies, lenses, and support organized and protected.
- Set dressing, props, and construction: this is where stake beds earn their place, alongside box trucks, for bulk, lumber, and awkward open loads. Refueler stakebeds are available if your production is running generators on location.
- Production and expendables: cargo vans, with or without liftgates, are quick to park and easy to run around town.
- Cast, hair, and makeup: talent trailers, makeup and wardrobe trailers, and eco-friendly cast and crew units round out base camp. See the trailer fleet for the full range.
- Crew movement: 15-passenger vans, and Galpin runs one of the largest privately owned fleets of them available for rental.
You can browse the full range of production trucks and support vehicles or start from the Studio Rentals hub if you are building a complete transportation list.
Electric Vehicles for Greener Productions
Studios and streamers are setting sustainability targets, and transportation is one of the biggest line items where a production can actually move the needle. Renting battery-electric vehicles where they fit your workflow is a practical way to reduce on-set emissions and, in many cases, cut fuel spend.
A quick but important distinction: a battery-electric vehicle runs entirely on its battery and plugs in to charge, while a hybrid still burns gasoline. Keep those categories straight when you report your fleet to a sustainability coordinator, because they are not interchangeable and the reporting treats them differently.
Galpin’s rental fleet includes three battery-electric options worth knowing about. The Ford F-150 Lightning covers light-duty hauling and runner duty. The Ford Mustang Mach-E suits producers, scouts, and department heads who want a zero-tailpipe-emission vehicle. And the 13-passenger all-electric Ford Transit is the one most productions overlook, because moving crew is usually where the emissions actually accumulate across a shoot week.
Worth knowing that this is not a recent pivot for the company. Galpin’s own history records that Bert Boeckmann developed Future Fuels of America in 1979, a methanol-based fuel the company describes as decades ahead of today’s alternatives, and the rental department shared the property with it. Alternative fuel has been part of the operation for well over forty years.
Plan charging the way you plan a fuel stop. Know where vehicles charge overnight at base camp and how far your locations sit from a reliable charger. And be realistic about where electric fits: for heavy gear hauling, a conventional truck is still the right tool. Most productions run a mixed fleet, electric for light-duty runners and gas or diesel for the grip and electric package.
Shooting In and Around Hollywood
Location logistics in Los Angeles are their own department. Narrow streets, permit-limited parking zones, and tight studio lots all reward a truck sized to the job rather than the biggest thing available. Picking up close to set matters too, because every mile of deadhead is time and fuel you are paying for.
Galpin Rentals Hollywood sits at 1763 Ivar Avenue, minutes from the studios and stages, so pickup and return stay close to where you are working. Secure overnight and long-term parking is also available in Hollywood and North Hills if you are staging vehicles across multiple shoot days. You can see every branch on the locations page if your base camp sits elsewhere in the region.
Some useful context on whether the vendor knows the work: through the 1980s Galpin’s rental fleet grew from 200 vehicles to more than 600, with hundreds delivered each production season to Universal, Warner Brothers, Disney, Paramount, MGM, and 20th Century Fox.
If your shoot also needs on-camera cars, Galpin maintains a separate picture vehicles inventory, which keeps your hero cars and your gear trucks on clean, separate paperwork.
How to Book and What to Have Ready
Book as early as your schedule locks, especially in peak production windows when 5-tons and built-out cubes move fast.
Have ready:
- Your shoot dates and the number of days per vehicle
- Your department list, so the truck matches the package
- Driver information, including ages
- Your production’s insurance details, since a certificate of insurance is standard for production truck rentals
- Any build-out or shelving requirements, flagged early
Review the insurance requirements and rental requirements before you call so there are no surprises at pickup, and ask about current specials in case a promotion fits your dates.
A good transportation coordinator confirms three things before load-in: the truck size matches the package, the pickup point is close to set, and the paperwork is clean. Get those right and the trucks become the part of the day nobody has to think about.
Ready to Build Your Production Fleet
From a single 5-ton to a full mixed fleet of built-out cubes, stakebeds, cargo vans, and battery-electric runners, Galpin can outfit your Hollywood shoot from a location built for production work.
Galpin Rentals Hollywood is at 1763 Ivar Avenue, Hollywood, California 90028. Call 323-957-3333 or email gsr@galpin.com. Hours are Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., closed Sunday, with parking and returns available 24 hours.
Galpin Rentals has served the entertainment industry in Los Angeles since 1974, as part of the Galpin Motors family.
Disclaimer:
Fleet availability, vehicle specifications, build-out options, and services vary and are subject to change. Confirm current inventory, dimensions, lead times, and terms for your shoot dates. Rental, insurance, and driver requirements apply; a certificate of insurance is standard for production truck rentals. Electric vehicle range and charging times vary with load, conditions, and driving. Parking availability and terms vary by location. Hours are subject to change; confirm directly for your dates.