The good news is that flatbed trailers are versatile and adaptable to loads that vary in both size and weight. The bad news? Over 60 percent of flatbed loads require comprehensive tarping. Manually tarping flatbeds is an ergonomic nightmare and a worker's comp attorney’s dream. The requirement to heave unwieldy tarps as heavy as 100 pounds while perched precariously atop a flatbed excludes many otherwise competent professional drivers from hauling flatbed jobs. It's also a major turn-off to potential new hires, as well. It is no wonder that curtain side trailers—which totally eliminate the need for manual tarping—have achieved major market penetration in the U.S. trucking industry, in a relatively short time.
A curtain side truck is all about options—more rather than fewer. A curtain van can load/unload standard freight through the rear door like a conventional van or body. But a curtainsider doesn’t have to. It can take on large or odd-sized loads from the side like an open flatbed, if that’s what you need to haul at the moment. Street-side loading with no loading dock... no problem at all.
Curtain side trailers are perfect for displaying graphics including bold colorful company logos and informational messages. Applied to the retractable curtain, silk-screen or digital graphics can turn a truck body or full-size trailer into a billboard to promote products and services before the eyes of millions of drivers and pedestrians. The process of creating artwork for silk-screen or digital printing of curtainsides is well-established and straightforward and results are durable and long-lasting even under harsh road conditions.
Although inspecting incoming shipments pertains to any shipping, obviously we hope it also helps the shippers using a curtain side trailer and/or a curtainside van as part of their fleet. Inspecting incoming freight protects all parties in the event any issues arise during or after the shipping process. Freight in motion is by nature subject to some level of risk. Damage and shortages may occur for any number of reasons—mostly inadvertent, but not always. It’s in your best interests to inspect everything that crosses your dock, then sign it off in writing.
One of the benefits of curtain side trailers is that the large retractable curtain can serve also as a mobile billboard to get your logo and company brand out to the public in numbers a stationary sign or other ad media can’t match. Eye-catching graphics and brief, concise informational or promotional text gets millions of views a year as your trucks travel the roads daily. Unlike a permanent painting on a standard solid-wall trailer, however, the curtain can be readily changed when it's time to update your look or change your message. Your design should be composed by a qualified graphic artist—today, there are even graphic design firms that specialize entirely in truck trailer advertising art—and then printed on the PVC-coated polyester curtain, followed by a clear-coat for UV protection so colors and images stay vivid through long miles on the road.
For every hour your curtainside trucks or curtainside trailers spend on the road, estimates are that at least 4,500 people may be “impressed” — advertising jargon for every time someone notices and recalls the graphic displayed on your curtain. That’s over a million every month, an “impressive” example of outdoor advertising and promotion, indeed. But how do you make sure your curtainside graphics are making the most of that opportunity to grab attention and get your message across? Successful truck trailer advertising strategies tend to include certain common elements you can put to work when thinking about a curtainside trailer or truck. Here are a few guidelines for creating and exploiting curtainside graphics.
Advertising on a trailer, truck or van puts your brand and message in motion.
While stationary billboards have been the staple of outdoor advertising for decades, advertising on commercial vehicles is now a competitive option for the most advertising bang-per-buck.
The theory behind curtainside design is straightforward simplicity to streamline loading and unloading freight, expedite shipments down the road, and open up new profit opportunities for carriers.
That philosophy also extends to routine maintenance. Curtainsides are built for daily, high-mileage use in real-world conditions. Excessive downtime for any reason—including preventive maintenance—simply isn’t an option in this competitive industry. Maintaining a curtainside trailer is a standardized procedure that can be implemented by most fleet maintenance personnel.
A semi-trailer and the wide open road add up to a powerful strategy for advertising your company and brand to millions of motorists.
The considerable available square footage on both sides of a 50-foot trailer offers powerful potential to reach out to an ever-changing market. Every mile your trailer travels down the road with blank sides, on the other hand, is a missed marketing opportunity.
Lead generation is a process that motivates prospective customers to take the next step.
In mobile trailer advertising, lead generation means the prospect who glimpses an effective ad is inspired to take action, expressing interest in a product or service in some way, shape or form. That may include going to a brick-and-mortar location to shop for it, making a telephone inquiry or simply visiting a website. Advertising on semi-trailers visually exposes thousands of potential customers to your message as the truck covers miles of busy streets and highways every day.
