A Provisioning Truck Gets a Tiny Home Reno
An Interview of Mark Pankey by Kristen Kizer, APN
USA – Meet Mark Pankey, owner of the one-and-only SnakPak. What is the SnakPak? To answer that question, we have to start with what the SnakPak was. It was once a provisioning truck, also known as a ‘provo truck,’ that was used in service for at least a decade in Las Vegas. During its service lifetime, it brought snacks, drinks, cleaning supplies, and other essentials from a warehouse out to aircraft on the line.
Today, the SnakPak is Mark Pankey’s home. Yes, you got that right – the vehicle has been converted into one of the most attractive tiny homes we’ve ever seen. Of course, a home like this deserves a little explanation, so we reached out to Mark to ask a few questions.
APN: “Can you explain what a provo truck is and how it’s intended to be used?”
Mark Pankey: “This provo truck was used in service for at least a decade in Las Vegas (truck #55) and subsequently moved up to Seattle for servicing aircraft up there for 6 to 9 years. The trucks operate back and forth from a warehouse where they stock snacks, drinks, alcohol, ice, other cleaning supplies, and the aircraft on the line. Typically, two trucks will service an aircraft at the front and back, where they pull up to the jet and raise up to the door. The deck is a nice feature for the employees to resupply the aircraft with all of the previously mentioned goods prior to the next flight. It’s basically like the pits at a NASCAR race; the jet pulls in, fuel trucks, provo trucks, baggage carts, et cetera, roll up the jet after it enters the gate and shuts down. It’s a very well-greased machine with all of the moving parts working in unison, prepping the aircraft before the push back ready for takeoff.”
APN: “What inspired you to build a tiny home in the first place? I have to ask, is it your primary residence or a vacation home?”
Mark Pankey: “I have always been a creative individual with lots of energy for projects. What got me started was an old Econoline van I built out to use as a temporary crash pad when showing up to work prior to flying.”
“When I was first hired at Southwest [Airlines], I would stay in hotels near the airport prior to flying, and the costs added up every month, and I wanted to try and get rid of those expenditures. So, I built out the van and used it at Denver International for a couple of years before taking it out to LAX, where I continued using it for work out there. I would save between $500-$1000 per month, so it was well worth it to me since I was saving money to build my dream home in Colorado.”
“When COVID[-19] happened, my company gave a lot of us time off, and I was able to take two years off with partial pay. I had to change my life plans and decided I would just build out a box truck and go on a vacation until the company called me back. I ended up selling almost everything I owned to inlace my runway lot/hangar house plans, except for all my fun toys (kayak, skis, fishing poles, mountain bike, etc.). The SnakPak is my permanent residence, and I’m almost at three years living in it full time and nowhere near done with this incredible adventure!”
APN: “Tell me about the process of transforming a provisions transport vehicle into a home. What was the hardest part or biggest headache? What part did you find that you really enjoyed? Did you learn a lot along the way?”
Mark Pankey: “So, my first priority was to clean it out completely like an empty U-Haul truck. The provisioning trucks all have specialized lighting systems inside to see the shelves and lights to alert the crew that the box is in the up position. I had to pull out the permanently mounted shelves and icebox inside the truck as well as rip all the electrical out of it except the controls that operate the box in the up position via the hydraulic scissor lift.”
“The next big headache was cutting the roof off and adding metal framing to increase one side two feet and the leeward side about 10 inches. This was needed because the roof was made out of fiberglass, and I didn’t feel it was going to be adequate for my purposes, utilizing it now for a dwelling. This also gave me more interior space upward, a single slant roof for water harvesting, and a better sun angle for my solar panels.”
“The best part of the whole build, which I completely enjoyed, was once the entire home was completely sealed, meaning front/rear doors, all the windows installed, and walls complete – being inside the vehicle as it was raining was a sense of accomplishment!!! I had been working on it for so many days, wide open and vulnerable to the weather, so this was definitely a day to celebrate.”
“During this intense and rapid-fire JOURNEY, I was able to learn so much during this time it was mind-blowing! I already had a background in construction (house building), welding, home electrical, painting, and roofing, so this was a huge refresher on all of these skills. The new one for me was learning how to be a plumber! There’s nothing one can’t learn with YouTube!”
APN: “Where do you keep the home? And what reaction do you get from people when they see it?”
Mark Pankey: “I keep the home, usually, wherever I’m parked at the time, which consists of Bureau of Land Management (BLM), national forest land, campsites, or friends’ private land.”
“Reactions from people when they see my tiny house is just insane! When I’m driving down the highway, you will typically pass me doing 50-60 m.p.h. I’ve seen some crazy things when people pass me; running off the road, yelling out the window, thumbs up, and tons of phones videoing as they pass! When I’m at a gas station or a campsite, I will have people gathering around the SnakPak, taking pictures and videos. I’ve given thousands of tours and had professional photographers shooting for magazine articles. This July, I will be covered in a featured series from a Polish television show, like the Discovery Channel, in Moab.”
APN: “Any new projects on the horizon?”
Mark Pankey: “No new projects on the horizon at this time. I want to try and secure some land up in the mountains very soon where I can build a nomad-type area where my friends can rally up their rigs on a plot of land off the beaten path. I would highly encourage everyone out there to try and decode the system as far as living debt free! It’s something I cannot share, and one must go through the motions and attain the freedom of living without bills! So, my challenge to everyone reading this is to come up with a plan to attain a debt-free life and enjoy the COMPLETELY stress-free world it has to offer!”
Simply INCREDIBLE!