While traffic jams are usually one of the most annoying parts of someone’s day, they can actually be one of the best things to happen for companies who use truck wraps on their vehicles. As people sit on the highway making their way to work or back home, they have plenty of time to look around at the other vehicles on the road. A truck with a wrap on it is a moving advertisement that displays a company’s message to others on the road.
If you use trucks in your business and want to increase brand awareness, truck wraps are a cost-effective way to spread your message in the areas where you operate. As you look to build your brand and attract new clients or customers, learn more about truck wraps and the benefits they can provide to your company.
Table of Contents
What Are Truck Wraps?
How Long Does a Wrap Last on a Truck?
Who Can Benefit From Truck Wraps?
Why Are Truck Wraps Right for Your Company?
Tips for Truck Wraps
What Are Truck Wraps?
Truck wraps make your advertising go mobile. The wraps are made out of large vinyl decals and graphics that are installed onto the exterior of a business’s trucks. The wraps are custom printed with branded messages that get the word out about your company.
A truck wrap can cover every inch of a vehicle’s exterior without harming a driver’s vision. Alternatively, a wrap might only cover part of the truck. Whether it covers the entire surface of a truck or a smaller area, the wrap will be specially designed for the size and shape of your trucks so that it displays your message in a visually appealing and professional manner. Your logo, color scheme and text will be on view and visible to drivers throughout the day.
In addition to improving the aesthetic appeal of a vehicle, a truck wrap also provides a way for your company to communicate your values and personality to the general public. The images and text you choose will allow your company to educate the public on what your business is all about and what services you offer.
Vehicle wraps will often include a clever tagline, a catalog of products, a company’s contact information, iconic imagery and a logo. You can create a wrap that is truly custom to help you achieve your marketing goals.
How Long Does a Wrap Last on a Truck?
Truck wraps are meant to be a long-term form of signage, but many companies will want to swap out their graphics to update the messages or visuals before the wrap itself needs replacement.
Vehicle wraps can last up to five years, but a rule of thumb is that wraps should be swapped out for new ones every three years. A change in wraps every few years reduces the chance of residue accumulating on a vinyl surface and makes sure that the underlying paint on the vehicle stays intact. Truck wraps from SpeedPro come with a three-year warranty. Window graphics come with a one-year warranty because the perforations in window film material are more susceptible to peeling.
The lifespan of a truck wrap depends on factors like on the quality of the materials, the quality of installation and the way you care for your wraps. Truck wraps from SpeedPro feature solvent long-life inks and are laminated with a UV protector to help the wrap last and look vibrant for as long as possible.
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Who Can Benefit From Truck Wraps?
Many people can benefit from truck wraps. Essentially, if you have company trucks or your workers drive their personal trucks on the job, you should consider wrapping these trucks with custom graphics. Some examples of people and companies that should take advantage of truck wraps include:
- Logistics companies: Whether shipping products across the country or making deliveries to people’s homes, logistics companies can ship in style and gain exposure by wrapping their delivery vehicles with vehicle wraps. Consumer brands that ship their own products can also brand their trucks.
- Food trucks: For food trucks, vibrant graphics are essential. You can use your food truck wrap to brand your truck and display your menu. If you change menu items or prices, you can cover over parts of your graphic to update the information.
- Trades: Companies or individuals like plumbers, electricians, cable installers, roofers or landscapers can make their pickup trucks look professional and advertise their services with custom graphics. If you drive a van, check out our van wraps.
- Construction companies: No construction fleet is complete without at least one on-road truck, so why not make this truck a bold advertisement for your construction services? When you’re parked at a job site, people in the community will see who is hard at work and may give you a call to ask for a quote.
- Individuals: You don’t have to be a business with professional trucks to get a custom wrap. Individuals can personalize their truck with their own text, colors and designs. If you love your truck, why not give it the personal touch it deserves and stand out on the road or at your next tailgate party?
Would Your Business Benefit from a Truck Wrap? Contact Us to Get Started.
Why Are Truck Wraps Right for Your Company?
You may like the sound of truck wraps, but are still not sold on them being a worthwhile investment. Whether you operate a fleet of trucks or only use one or two, you can still get a great deal of value from truck wraps.
The following are some of the top benefits that make commercial truck wraps a wise investment for your organization:
1. They Enhance Your Professional Image
If you use your company trucks to travel to jobs or transport goods, you want your trucks to project a professional image to anyone who sees them. Why settle for plain, white semi-trucks or solid-colored pickup trucks when you can have a branded fleet that appears infinitely more professional?
This is especially key for new businesses that want to appear legitimate and trustworthy to the public. When you pull into a client’s driveway or pull up to the loading dock for the first time, your truck will help you form a positive first impression.
2. They’re Cost-Effective
When it comes to deciding if an advertising method is right for a company, cost is always a chief concern. Fortunately, truck wraps offer companies an excellent return on investment.
Of all advertising types, fleet wraps often provide the lowest cost-per-impression. These costs are so small that some studies have found that the impressions cost can go as low as only four cents per thousand views, which is very affordable in comparison to other advertising methods, such as outdoor signs or newspaper ads.
With these low costs, truck wraps are hands down one of the most affordable marketing options available to companies that have a fleet of trucks. Your message will have the chance to reach thousands of viewers each day for an affordable price.
3. They Allow You to Advertise on the Road
Many people spend lots of time on the road and in a car each day. The average commute is 26 minutes to go one way. People generally drive 37 miles a day.
As people are on the road so much, you will be missing out on a large audience for your company if you decide not to use truck wraps. Say, for instance, your company has semi-trucks that cross hundreds of miles every day. A semi-truck wrap can take your message across the country, opening up new markets for you to operate in and making your business a national name.
If you’re a local business whose trucks only go around a city or region, commercial truck wraps are excellent options for smaller work trucks. You’ll be getting your message out to the community any time your drivers are on the road. You can double the value of your work trucks with a wrap. They already have functional value, and with the addition of the wrap, they gain marketing value.
4. They Can Increase Brand Familiarity
As you try to get your company’s name out there and attract new business, truck wraps can be one of the ways that you generate brand familiarity with your audience. The more people see your name and company imagery on the road, the more likely it will be that they will perceive your brand as trustworthy and consider doing business with you.
Due to the need for brand recognition, many companies use truck wraps to spread their brand. Of all the methods that a company could use to spread their message, a truck wrap is one of the best as it gets noticed by a lot of drivers. It’s also a more unusual medium so it’s likely to catch people’s eye when they see a colorful display among all the neutral-colored vehicles around them.
5. They Work for All Company Sizes
You may think that fleet truck warps are only meant for large companies that have several trucks in their fleet, but even the smallest companies can benefit from truck wraps. Even if you don’t own your trucks and rent them for work, you might be allowed to place an easily removable decal on the rented vehicles.
If your business has one or two trucks in its fleet, the benefit of having even a single truck wrap out on the road outweighs the costs. Truck wraps can generate enough attention to make just a single wrap worthwhile.
Wraps can also be placed on people’s personal vehicles. Some savvy companies have taken advantage of the gig economy by paying regular people to get a vehicle wrap installed on their car. Like a branded T-shirt for your car, the person drives around, displaying your message no matter where they go. Even the smallest businesses can make a big impression on potential clients or customers.
6. They Can Refresh the Look of Older Trucks
If your company owns older trucks, they might start showing signs of aging and wear-and-tear. To keep your company’s image professional and updated, you can use a wrap to make the truck look visually appealing again. The wrap covers up blemishes, so the truck can hit the road without you having to worry that its appearance will reflect poorly on your company.
The cost of a vehicle wrap certainly beats the cost of a new truck, so why not give your existing trucks a facelift and continue taking advantage of your trucks’ functionality until it’s really time for an upgrade? You could give your trucks a new paint job, but truck wraps have a distinct advantage since they turn your trucks into branded vehicles that help you advertise your company.
7. They’re Easy to Update as Needed
While fleet wraps are durable, at times, your company is going to want to update its graphics. Unlike other graphics, fleet wraps can be quickly removed or customized. If there’s only a small change that needs to be made, you can swap out panels to add new information or other design changes. Additionally, if vinyl alterations need to be made across a larger section of the wrap, you can employ graphic overlays that add small labels over the original panels.
Graphic overlays and small panel alterations can be valuable solutions in several scenarios, including:
- Information change: If your company’s information changes for whatever reason, it’s vital to update it on your truck. Updating a company’s phone number, address, website or email address allows people to contact you if they like what they see on the truck wrap. Instead of having to redo your entire fleet truck wraps, you can update the portions of the wrap that deal with the information that needs to be changed.
- Tweaks to logo and graphics: Whenever you make a change in your logo or graphics, you’ll want your trucks to reflect the changes, too. A non-updated logo or graphic can confuse viewers about the company’s imaging, hurting brand recognition.
- Panel damage: As trucks are always on the go, it’s likely that panels will occasionally get damaged. Whenever minor damage occurs, like a scratch or discoloration on a panel, a fresh panel can replace the damaged one quickly.
When small alterations are not an option, a truck wrap can be removed entirely. Usually, the warranty for the wrap will cover the cost of removal.
Get Your Message Out with a Custom Truck Wrap from SpeedPro
Tips for Truck Wraps
If you’re interested in adding commercial truck wraps or semi-truck wraps to your fleet or individual vehicle, there are some basic tips that you should follow:
1. Keep the Design Simple
Since your truck and other vehicles on the road will often be traveling at fast speeds, you don’t want your truck wrap to have an overly complicated design. It’s a good idea to keep the design simple so you can communicate with other drivers effectively.
It’s common for companies to include their slogan, company logo, name, website and phone number on their truck wrap. This content is about all you need to have an effectively designed truck wrap. Having plenty of empty space is not a bad thing, as it makes the wrap easier to look at and draws attention to important information.
2. Design for All Angles
Since wraps turn your truck into a display, you need to think of each side of your vehicle individually to ensure that — no matter which angle a person views the truck from — they’ll learn something about your company. Your design can extend around your truck, but each side of the truck should make sense visually on its own.
You can choose to create smaller decals that only cover a portion of your truck, but consider the additional impacts you can have when your truck communicates with viewers from every angle. For example, a driver behind one of your company trucks in traffic will only view your wrap if it extends to the back of the vehicle.
Make sure you design your wrap so features such as headlights and doors won’t disrupt your design. Keep text like contact information in clearly visible locations on the truck.
3. Adhere to Vehicle Laws
With vehicle wraps, you have to make sure you’re following any state or local laws that govern displays on vehicles and driver visibility. This mainly comes into play if you’re wrapping your truck’s windows in addition to the body of the truck. Some areas prohibit window coverings, even if they are made to offer one-way vision for drivers.
Knowing any legal parameters you need to work within is an important first step so you can then design a wrap that adheres to the law and is as effective as possible.
4. Let a Professional Install Your Wraps
It’s best practice not to try to install a fleet wrap onto your vehicle by yourself. Instead, a professional who has been trained and certified to install truck wraps should do the job for you.
A professional will have the specialty tools, like scalpels, adhesion tools and custom scissors, needed to install the wrap properly. Along with the tools, the professional will know how to apply the wrap so it’s air-tight, preventing bubbles or wrinkles across it. Properly installing a truck wrap takes practice, and it can take hours to complete the process. Instead of risking an improperly installed wrap, employ a professional to ensure that the wrap is as visually appealing and durable as possible.
5. Gently Wash the Wraps
Even though fleet wraps are built to hold up against the elements, you should still wash them with care if you want them to last. Whenever they get dirty, your best option is to handwash them. Handwashing lets you remove grime and dirt as gently as possible. When washing a wrap, use a gentle soap and a soft cloth instead of corrosives, hard scrubbers or chemical solvents.
If your company puts trucks through automated car washes, they should be washed using the most gentle cycle possible. The wraps should never be cleaned with a pressure washer. Additionally, after a vehicle has been wrapped, you’ll want to wait for a week or two before doing any kind of washing or rinsing.
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Interested in Adding Truck Wraps to Your Vehicle or Fleet?
Whether you operate a single truck or have a whole fleet of them, a truck wrap is an excellent way to get your brand’s message out there. A truck will then have functional value and will also be a mobile advertisement proven to be effective. If you want your truck wraps to make a memorable impression on those who see them, SpeedPro is here to assist you.
SpeedPro’s large, nationwide network of studios specializes in large format printing, making it easy for us to print out visually appealing truck wraps, no matter how large. Find your local studio to speak to one of our local representatives about your fleet truck wrap options.