Using Conspicuity Reflective Tape on a box truck questions.

[BravestDog]

I want to put some reflective tape on my box truck.

1. On the rear roll up door or sides of body, is there a pattern I should use or should not use so it stands out as the back or side of a truck and doesn't look like a tunnel entrance to a drunk driver? I really don't want somebody to plow into it at and then sue me because they thought it was a tunnel entrance...

I've seen the big rigs outline the side of the box with a level strip and the back end by highlighting the upper corners with white tape.

2. when putting it on long sections of 10-15 foot, how do you get the tape to layout in straight lines? I have a body seam that is straight that I could follow as a guide buy I'm concerned that once it is layed on, you can't peel it off and re-adust it.

Does anyone work with this stuff for a living or have you done your truck with it?

Suggestions, comments?

Thanks.

 

[Gary Atsma]

I would say put some across the bottom somewhere, and more up the sides, then reinforce the heck out of the rear of the truck for the inevitable drunk that would mistake it for a tunnel entrance. How he would make that mistaken ID is beyond me after putting the stuff across the BOTTOM of the truck, but he is drunk, after all!
Truth IS stranger than lies or BS....

 

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

....ask your freindly DOT man he will tell you exactly where to apply the tape-as he did with me- and you will be within compliance and not be a target for being pulled over by a LEO with nothing better to do....things that have to do with compliance issues I take to DOT as they wrote the book and are more than happy to give their opinion. If you need help with the tape placement use Joy Liquid Soap in water to make the surface slippery and then a squeege to get the water out from under the tape....once the water is out-you aren't going to move the tape again with out ripping it off......My tape is up both sides at the belt line-about 3.5' off the ground and all the way around the rear door-like a big square. On the tractor it is on the Bed edges and across the back on the bed.....On the wrecker it is on the bed edges and all over the stinger so I won't trip over it in the dark.....which does happen-causing me to say the "F" word a lot!.......geofkaye

 

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

.....It is kinda like the COPS using white lites... white lite seems to attract drunks.....just a little known fact I picked up from the company that outfits my trucks with strobe lites......geofkaye

 

[Gary Atsma]

...white lite seems to attract drunks.....

Now THERE is some useful info!

 

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

......what ever I can add to the discussion.....that I can remember....in my golden years.....I wanted only white lites for my wrecker and was advised against it as the "attraction" is documented somewhere.....geofkaye

 

[BravestDog]

The reason I'm concerned about the pattern used on the rear of the truck is because I have been driving at 60mph on unfamiliar mountain highways, at night, alone, and saw something 1/4 mile ahead, like the back end of a truck... and I'm wondering "What the hell is that?"

It's as though my brain can't figure it out because I'm not sure what I'm seeing at that moment...until I get closer to it and then can recognize it. But when I first see it, I'm not sure what I'm seeing.

So I'm thinking, if a person was drunk and driving on this same road, what does that person see? Red and white stripes that they think is the road to Fairyland or the road to Jack Daniels brewery...?

Anyway, I want a pattern that doesn't look like a tunnel entrance to a drunk person. So I don't get rear ended and then end up injured or dead while the drunk driver gets away uninjured and doesn't even know he caused the accident.

 

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

....what about a "V" pattern like the ambulances in England on the TV now after the bombing or " SLASH" pattern like the back of a utilityvehicle maybe like a local Gas and Electric supplier.....some good ideas here....visability is important from the rear also...some of our utility trucks have a "V" on the front bumper also.....geofkaye

 

[QRTRHRS]

Check this site for conspicuity tape info. Go the the bottom of the page for specific applications.

http://www.truckroadservice.com/reflective.html