Discussion Can you believe it....................... ??

[Gino]

Had a truck scheduled today for a long time customer. We've been lettering their trucks for at least 20 years or so. We also do their trade show displays, and many other signs which go all over the country into their areas of a store.

This particular truck was pulled over about 3 weeks ago for not having their name on the truck. They had their DOT numbers, but no name. They were cited and hadda pay a kinda hefty fine. When they got the ticket, they made a paper 8.5" x 11" piece of paper printout with their name on it, but they taped it on the doors with clear packing tape.

This is the first part of the thread. Did you ever try to get packing tape off a truck that's been on for a few weeks ?? It's horrible. It came off in itsy-bitsy teenie weenie pieces of shredded nothingness.

Any ideas to get that crap off.... other than pulling your hair out. None of the glue-off stuff worked??

The second part is..... About a week ago, another good customer of ours called looking for small "LLC" letters in black for their truck doors. Seems PA DOT has now begun pulling vehicles over and citing them, if CORP, LLC, INC or any other part of the full name is missing. They were cited 3 times since the beginning of September. I never heard of that one.

Any input or knowledge on this, other than looking it up ??

 

[Eric H]

Wallpaper steamer works extremely well on vinyl maybe it would work on tape.

 

[2B]

The clear tape is a total PITA. see this more often than we want to for 18 Wheelers, even with our repeat customers who we work odd hours for so they don't have any downtime.
Once it cooked in the sun........ complete FUBAR
We don't even bother with rapid remover or like products. go straight for the removal wheel (Zapper), then use the fluids to clean.

cannot comment about the full company name

 

[Raven Graphics]

I would recommend the Eraser Wheel to take off the tape as well, then use some orange gel to remove the glue residue. If the surface underneath can be damaged with the heat put off by the friction, some tint scrapers can be pretty handy.

 

[Gino]

What is a tint scraper ?? The only ones I've seen that work are metal and I can't use that on a vehicles and the plastic chizzlers aren't aggressive enough. I did end up using my Zapper, but it didn't react like vinyl. It got very gooey/gummy.

 

[Raven Graphics]

What is a tint scraper ?? The only ones I've seen that work are metal and I can't use that on a vehicles and the plastic chizzlers aren't aggressive enough. I did end up using my Zapper, but it didn't react like vinyl. It got very gooey/gummy.

They've got these essentially plastic razor blades that are quite rigid (https://www.amazon.ca/Scraper-Window-Removing-Plastic-Blades/dp/B077TJ9LWN). I used them on the plastic bumper of an RV I was doing 30 yo graphics removal on. The eraser wheel would have burnt a hole straight through the thing, so I had to go in by hand. I will admit that it took some time and elbow grease, but the bumper was undamaged.

 

[Raven Graphics]

If you get a knife sharpener and a room key from a hotel, you can turn it into these things all day long... They just don't fit in the blade holder.

I guess you could do the same with a hard card, although I can only imagine the hand cramp you'd have after removing a larger graphic with something like that lol

 

[Boudica]

HIghly recommend the plastic razor blades - they are amazing. I use them to clean built up ink off our FB belt. Way safer than an actual razor blade, and much kinder on my fingernails - which is what I was doing before my boss got me the plastic blades. Oh, and for removing other stuff - it's way better than a lil' chizler

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

No kidding, I only discovered this when I was stipping vinyl at a bank, after midnight, and discovered I hadn't packed a razor blade.

Ohhhh the Friday night midnight bank debranding jobs. Good memories.

Who cares if Trump is trying to get dirt. What if he found dirt? I'd like to know, but if there is nothing there then oh well.

 

[gabagoo]

Plastic razor blade and a steamer

speaking of steamers, I won a Conair clothes steamer in a golf tournament a few years ago and I decided to use it for work and it was great in that within a minute the gizmo was forcing steam through the nozzle unlike my Wagner wallpaper steamer which can take upwards of 20 minutes to get it steaming.
The bad news is that the clothes steamer stopped working because I used regular tap water and somehow the mineral content gummed up the works and I never could get it back working like it did..Oh well back to the Wagner which does not care about minerals it seems.

 

[Old Timer]

refer to section 390.19 and 390.21 of the FSMCA in regards to vehicle marking. we have state rule that conflicts with the fed, Michigan vehicle code, section 257.723 but in paragraph 3 states " a vehicle in compliance with the federal motor carrier safety regulations is considered to be in compliance

 

[d fleming]

Down here in FL I have never heard of having to have inc, llc, etc on doors. DOT#s sure, name of company, yep, some trades also require city and phone. Never heard of anyone cited for that. But hey, things change right? As far as the tape +1 for heat and plastic razor. The last time I had one like that it actually took some super find wet sanding and polishing to make the door even presentable before properly lettering it. PITA

 

[CSOCSO]

out of everything that was mentioned I would go with the eraser wheels too.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

, and it would be nice if the democrats focused on any agenda aside from 'can we get trump out somehow?'
"

The is no substance on either side anymore... its literally a screaming match and they both suck.

 

[petepaz]

unfortunately i think a lot of it depends on the cop and if he/she has a bug up his/her ass.
in NJ the lettering (dot, gvw, name) supposed to be a min of 3" i had a customer get pulled over in NY and the cop had a ruler and was measuring the truck lettering when they are stopped at the traffic lights.. their lettering was like 2.875"...bam...ticket...WTF really
i have seen the trucks with the paper taped on the door (like this situation) and no ticket. that is not even permanent???
i have seen trucks with the metal lettering and numbers you put on your mailbox that you get a home depot and no ticket. they are not the right size. baffles me.
that why i say it just depends on the mood of the cops

as far as the packing tape on doors, yeah sucks, i always use the wheel and plastic razor blades

 

[Gino]

So many customers coming in lately, getting ticketed and they all happen on the turnpike and usually at the gates. When you look it up on line, they have the old information which says in Black & White, that part of the name is not needed for trucks or signs in Penna. Guess I'm gonna hafta call someone.

 

[2B]

Plastic razor blade and a steamer

speaking of steamers, I won a Conair clothes steamer in a golf tournament a few years ago and I decided to use it for work and it was great in that within a minute the gizmo was forcing steam through the nozzle unlike my Wagner wallpaper steamer which can take upwards of 20 minutes to get it steaming.
The bad news is that the clothes steamer stopped working because I used regular tap water and somehow the mineral content gummed up the works and I never could get it back working like it did..Oh well back to the Wagner which does not care about minerals it seems.

soak the elements in white vinegar. will remove the minerals
also load the unit up with white vinegar and steam it, several reservoirs are suggested to clean the lines. ONLY DO WITH PLENTY OF VENTILATION
we only use distilled water in out steamer and this keeps it from building up

 

[gabagoo]

soak the elements in white vinegar. will remove the minerals
also load the unit up with white vinegar and steam it, several reservoirs are suggested to clean the lines. ONLY DO WITH PLENTY OF VENTILATION
we only use distilled water in out steamer and this keeps it from building up

tried that, just never worked properly anymore...I turfed it

 

[SheBeau]

Here are the USDOT rules and below, each state's amended laws. PA follows USDOT Regulation Part 390.21 but adds a requirement for the PA PUC number to be added.
https://www.permitsplus.com/downloads/fedReg390.pdf