Just a few questions about liveries etc, I still am undecided as to whether to put a truck on the road next year, but if I do then I want to have an identity, a presence, rather than just driving a plain white truck, partially because I would have to do that to attract my own work.
Paint would achieve this but people seem to be using vinyl wraps more and more. I understand they are far cheaper, require far less downtime, can incorporate more elaborate designs and can be removed when selling the truck further down the line.
Does anyone have a vinyl-wrapped truck? Would you have any thoughts on this?
You could always ring a Mr.William Stobart and ask him his opinion.
I notice that Clarkes from Oldbury, (My former employer from 10 years ago.) have a new design on their trucks, which I think is a litle ott, but is eyecatching nevertheless. Their website is currently still showing their old livery, but I’ve just found this:
Yes, if there is any problem with the cab wraps I have seen it is that they are over-elaborate and over-fussy, I would be looking at it more as a change of colour with a simple company livery on the sides and front.
To me thats a bit over the top.
Call me old fashioned but I personally prefer a far less fussy approach.
You wouldn’t go wrong if you kept the Fleetwood style. Same colours would be good. Always looked mint, you knew whose trucks they were and very easy on the eye and nowhere near over the top.
I share your thoughts on this subject Harry. My first artic was a plain white rental, which i subbed for another haulier to kick off with. Things went very sour, very quickly (coz they’re a pair of lying, cheating ■■■■■) and, over the course of a weekend I jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, on the strength of one job and a lot of encourougement from a good mate.
This led to me handing the rental back and buying the Eurostar for £6k from another o/d who was packing in. At this early stage it seemed a bit premature to cover it in expensive paint and tbh i was still uncertain as to the future of my daftly named “haulage empire” , so it stayed white. After a year of running in white (and TC/Vosa issues) i bought the Volvo (from yet another o/d) and had it painted in the purchase price.
Looking back 18 months it has more than paid for itself in terms of advertising and the “oh your the bloke with the silly name/black Volvo”.
Not saying it’ll work in every case, just that it did in mine.
On the subject of wraps, i was gonna shop around in the new year for one on my Daf, which is white, in a customers colours at the moment, so i’m all ears!
Harry Monk:
Just a few questions about liveries etc, I still am undecided as to whether to put a truck on the road next year, but if I do then I want to have an identity, a presence, rather than just driving a plain white truck, partially because I would have to do that to attract my own work.
KIS == Keep it simple You can achieve quite an impression with only a small amount of sign-writing (using Decals) it wont cost a fortune poss £100-£150 depending on what design you have.
Paint would achieve this but people seem to be using vinyl wraps more and more. I understand they are far cheaper, require far less downtime, can incorporate more elaborate designs and can be removed when selling the truck further down the line.
A wrap I would imagine to cost £2-3,000 although I may be wrong. You would be better to put the money towards a newer truck than go for expensive artwork. Goaty is right that a catchy theme might earn you money but I ran my first truck for 2 1/2 years with telephone numbers and other info on and didn`t get a single call (Not even to complain about my driving)
Unless you are buying a new truck unmarked paintwork isnt going to enhance the value of a truck which may be 6-7 years old when you come to sell it.
We use to spend an absolute fortune on spray painting trucks in “our” colours and designs, a little bit on the top for sign writing, but we buy them now in a standard colour, and have our name and decals in vinyl to stick to the doors and the front.
Safes stupid money, and when we exchange them after 6 years or 1 million, it takes a couple of ours to strip them and they are basic again.
The risk of somebody running in your colours is substantial and can do a lot of unwanted attention and do damage to your reputation.
Most times the names get taken of, but the design and colours stay on.
The guys who run former USSR and Greece have seen plenty trailers and trucks in their old livery.
Your customer can run in to them and could be not so pleased with it.
Wrapping avoid this risk, prices came down a big way, you don’t need spray painting, nee need for sign writing everything can be incorporated.
And if you change customer, you can change it if need to.
Regarding design, there is an advantage to bold designs, …………………….you remember them.
It’s not everybody’s taste, but they stay in your head.
I think the Germans are King in this, some of their trucks, trailers and Busses have decals and wraps on them, that you can still remember in 2 years time.
That’s where its all about in advertising……to be remembered (if it suits the business where you are in)
The risk of somebody running in your colours is substantial and can do a lot of unwanted attention and do damage to your reputation.
I know someone who bought a grab lorry that had belonged to a well known local utilities firm had it re done in there signwriting vinyl decals and went on to dump muck all over the shop and it come on top when he put a outrigger down and burst a water pipe.
He drove off someone give the phone number on the lorry to the council and opened a big can of worms.
, so it stayed white. After a year of running in white (and TC/Vosa issues) i bought the Volvo (from yet another o/d) and had it painted in the purchase price.
