If you want to be a REALLY good apprentice electrician, here’s a secret tip I’ll pass onto you.. which is using a parts tray, also known as a carry-all storage case.
Now, I personally didn’t bring around a separate parts tray, I used the built-in parts tray of my Electrical Maintenance Tool Carrier Bag.
I just want to repeat, if you purchase a Hand Tool Bag that has one of these parts trays, this was the best way to go because no one even knows you have a parts tray on you!
Then when you’re in a pinch, you can pull out this parts tray and see what you have (and win the apprentice of the year award 😂).
Best Parts Tray Containers for Electricians:
Let me clarify what I’m saying here.
If you can find a hand tool bag with the parts tray underneath, this gave me the best way to organize my small parts:

But sadly, most hand tool bags have this parts tray on the outside, which is VERY vulnerable to being hit and broken. (I saw someone hit theirs with a ladder, and smashed the corner to pieces!)

To learn more, I’ve explained this in my Best Tool Bags for Electricians.
Best Separate Small Parts Tray
Now, if you really want a multi-purpose parts tray to carry around with you, they are really handy, but it would require that extra bag to always carry around with you (which is kind of annoying).
From some quick research on Amazon, this carry-all parts tray is one that I think I would purchase because it doesn’t feel too big in size, and also has cups for storage.
The cups are a really nice feature so that screws, nails, or staples don’t go underneath the slot dividers. Cups means that you can organize these exactly as you want and easily close the parts tray with ease when you’re in a rush.
Now as a pro-tip, I actually put similar items in fold-top sandwich bags, to use one cup for multiple types of small parts. I made sure the sandwich bags were not ziplock, as those are more expensive, as well as take up more room.
These small fold-top sandwich bags allow you to load up material and spin-twist the bag gently to keep things very organized.
How to Use the Parts Tray?
Now let me explain how to use this parts tray, because it requires a bit of thinking so you can come in clutch at those really intense moments as an apprentice.
Being an apprentice electrician, your journeyman will often call on you quickly saying, “We need this part, go downstairs and get it”.. Or.. you may be on a jobsite that is an hour out of town, and you don’t have the part..
This is where you can pull out your parts tray and save the day!
Here’s what you want to think about:
- If you find a valuable electrical part, store it in the parts tray!
- Don’t load the parts tray too heavy, or it becomes a burden!
- Only use this parts tray in pinch (if you don’t have the material readily available on site)
I will explain these briefly, then wrap-up this article!
What’s a Valuable Electrical Part?
Now we electricians use common items over and over, but sometimes if your jobsite runs out of a part, you are literally at a stand-still until you get the part!
What are some of these common electrical parts?
Well, this can be anti-shorts for BX Armored Cable, single and double connectors for armored cable (as well as plastic connectors)..
Maybe you want to store a couple different types of screws like 1″ wood screws, 9/16″ metal pan head screws.. and a couple tech screws to get a hold started!
(A pro-tip is to use the tech screw to make your hole, then use a regular screw, that way you can keep your tech screw around with you to make your pilot hole.. if you do this, make sure the regular screw actually holds very strong, as sometimes a tech screw makes too big of a hole for a regular screw).
You’ll also want to store different sizes of wire nuts in here like regular blue Marettes, but also the Red Marettes and Big Blue Marettes if you’re dealing with bigger wire like #10 or #8.. such as if you’re doing emergency lighting, or setting up temporary power on the jobsite!
Also you may want the small orange marettes if you’re doing fire-alarm!
Sometimes if you work in a panel it comes with extra ground bars.. this is a good one to store in your parts tray!
Now when these intense moments come, you as the apprentice have the opportunity to have the part at the right time, or it can be the difference of doing the job faster rather than walking all the way down to the jobsite trailer just for a single connector.
Should Electricians Have a Parts Tray?
To recap.. For me, I liked the parts tray built into the bottom of my electrical hand tool bag.
If you want a separate parts tray, this small parts tray is the one I’d look at.
I hope you learned a lot about workflow and this parts tray.. only use it at certain times when you really need it.. otherwise, make sure to use your notepad to make a list of what you need so next time you go for break, you load up on material before you walk back to site.
It’s all about thinking ahead to be very efficient.
Your boss definitely notices these little moves, and will keep you on their good side.. often meaning you may still till the end of the job to learn the true secrets of being an electrician (while keeping the income coming in!).