Reflectives are more affordable and more important than ever.
By Jonathan Baltic
Governmental studies around the world support the effectiveness of enhancing fleets’ visibility during nighttime and low-light operations in reducing accidents. The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) requires all heavy trailers manufactured after November 1993 to be equipped with highly reflective tape or its equivalent in the form of reflectors. In March 1999, the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Motor Carriers (now the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) required that the entire on-the-road fleet of heavy trailers be so equipped by June 1, 2001.
NHTSA studies estimated at the time that fully-implemented federal visibility requirements for heavy trailers would prevent 7,800 crashes annually. The study also estimated that 191 to 350 fatalities per year would be prevented, along with 3,100 to 5,000 injuries, once all heavy trailers in the U.S. fleet were equipped with highly reflective tape.
Images courtesy of BrandArmor.
Safety Education Program
Operators in the refuse collection business, which has been identified “the 5th most dangerous job in America”, struggle to pay incredibly high insurance rates. Luckily, SWANA has taken up the cause to make operations safer in many ways, including a massive safety education program and the deployment this year of their “Slow Down to Get Around” SafetyFirst™ Prismatic Reflective stickers for the rear of all types of collection trucks.
There are two additional changes in the reflective decal industry that allow all operators to enhance the reflective and safety footprint of their fleets:
1. Significant advancements in reflective and print technology, creating new opportunities to enhance safety
2. Dramatically lowered costs of implementing a reflective plan due to these technological innovations
Technical Developments and Costs
The technical developments over the years have increased the visibility range of reflectives, as well as durability, flexibility in processing and ease of installation. This led to the ability to install reflectives in vehicle locations previously not considered viable.
Price was traditionally a major barrier with reflective decal raw material historically costing 300 to 500 percent more than non-reflectives. High costs limited widespread implementation of the corresponding enhancements in safety because implementation of reflectives was financially out of the reach of many operators.
Now companies have the ability to provide a variety of super-reflective stickers for safety and branding that are projected to increase the overall price of a project by 20 percent +/-. Additionally, they can now be produced in any shape, color, graphic style, etc.
European studies on the use of retroreflectorized logos and graphics found the application of simple designs made from retroreflective materials markedly improved the visibility/conspicuity of heavy trucks.
Lasting Impact
It is time to think about reflectives for your fleet in a more progressive way. Reflectives are no longer limited to 2″ of conspicuity tape and can replace your standard branding package in most locations, particularly those of impact. No longer forced to limit reflective usage to the bare minimum footprint required due to the previously exorbitant pricing, operators today have a myriad of effective options for deployment to enhance safety, visibility and brand awareness. | WA
Jonathan Baltic is the SVP of BrandArmor™ Technologies (Marietta, GA), a division of TCS and inventor of the BrandArmorTM product line. BrandArmor™ is the designer and exclusive manufacturer for the national SWANA SDTGA program. Jonathan is a serial entrepreneur having started and run a diverse collection of companies over the last 40 years. TCS is a nationwide large format digital printer with factories in GA, SC, NC & NV (opening later this year). Jonathan can be reached at (678) 385-2188 or e-mail [email protected].