A customer of mine called today...tells me that one of our larger local companies told them they can no longer go thru their guarded gate if their truck does not have their name "hand lettered" on it.
If a vehicle has vinyl lettering and/or magnetics they won't be allowed thru.
I understand the magnetic issue to a degree...but first off...no offense to "all" guard shack personnel...but I don't think most of them that I have had contact with can read the lettering job let alone be able to tell if it's hand lettered or not. I know...that's not nice...hope there's not too many guards reading this.
Do you suppose they send them to lettering id classes?...do ya get a certificate?...is the certificate hand done in calligraphy?...or printed?...could a terrorist fake one of those and get a lettering id position?
Second...you mean to tell me a terrorist can't get a hand lettering job done.
Have you possibly lettered something for a terrorist lately?
I don't mean to make light of the security issues we face in our world...but I just find it ridiculous to think this rule is going to make the world a safer place.
If I'm missing something...please help me.
Jeff Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
Yes, it seems silly on the surface.
However, hand lettering is pretty hard to remove in a hurry. Magnetics take seconds. Vinyl takes just a few mins. Paint takes a lot longer.
We have DISA (defence information systems activity) here. Very secure secrete military stuff. And they demand the same thing here too. We cannot walk in. We must have a paint type lettered vehicle with the name and phone on it to enter.
Posted by Jeff Poitevint (Member # 4740) on :
Jeff,
Magnetics are understandable, but if the security folks would use their cognitive ability they could call in the tag for info - therefore allowing vinyl lettering. If there's a concern - check it out. --- DUH
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
do whats the big deal, paint it and charge more~ customer happy, accountant too~
Posted by Jillbeans (Member # 1912) on :
Finally....a "fringe benefit" of terrorism. Someone actually WANTS a hand-job for once! Love...Jill
Posted by Kissymatina (Member # 2028) on :
I don't know of any place around here going to that yet, just that trucks HAVE to be lettered.
Hmmm... considering most of the 'signshops' around here don't know which end of a brush is suppost to have paint on it... I see a golden opportunity happening.
Jeff, don't people steal license plates in Georgia?
Posted by John Lennig (Member # 2455) on :
Hand Jobs R Us
KYou can buy thils internest name?? make me an offer!
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Heheheheheeeee....I can hand letter terrorist vehicles!
All the more work for us old "Brushies"
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
I agree Jeff...If terrorists can orchestrate and do what they have already done.."hand painting" a "sign" on a vehicle seems pretty simple to me.
They didn't have or need time to remove anything when they flew the planes into the buildings..they don't care.
If a painted logo is more durable and less easy to remove, it doesn't matter to them..they will already have the mission accomplished and will probably be dead themselves anyway.
Seems like a kinda silly rule to me...(except, as mentioned above about the magnetic signs)
Just my thoughts as a person who is not a resident of the USA.
Posted by Roy Frisby (Member # 736) on :
Maybe this is the start of a national trend. Boy, I certainly hope so! It would sure separate the pros from the wanna-be's in the sign business!
Posted by Mike Pulskamp (Member # 3475) on :
Ahchem, (throat clearing)
"If in terror or in doubt,
Run in circles, scream and shout!"
Words to live by?
Posted by Barbara Murrell (Member # 3879) on :
Whst alarms me more than anything on this is that in the UK hand job means a totally different thing by the sounds of it! I don't think I would like to do that even if I did get paid for it!!!!
But on a more business like note, more work for us brush people seems good to me. love to all Barb
Posted by Ray Rheaume (Member # 3794) on :
"When in doubt...PANIC!!"
Rapid
Posted by Catharine C. Kennedy (Member # 4459) on :
14 years ago I worked for a local (upstate) cabinetmaker that had a lot of clients in New York City. At THAT time he couldn't have a magnetic sign on the truck- had to be painted - for making deliveries in the City. He painted it himself (in a fit of pique, no doubt) with house paint & similar brush. Got the job done...
Posted by Jillbeans (Member # 1912) on :
Barbara, It means the same thing here too. Both can be fun! But I think I prefer hand-painting. Si, that truck looks so nifty & cool! When did you do it? Love...Jill
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
I hope the security guard has a brother in law that letters trucks and was complaining at a family dinner that the sticky back shops were getting all the jobs.
Sounds like they're asking for paint rather than vinyl. Simple enough.....
Posted by Joey Madden (Member # 1192) on :
Probably a little off topic but my neighbor works for DOT and says that those truckers who wear towels for hats have immunity of some kind as their cargo cannot be opened unless its leaking or there is danger to surrounding areas. Makes ya wonder what the heck their doing driving the corridors of I-5. Last week, one of these semi drivers took a curve a little too fast just north of Roseburg Oregon went off road killing 4 people, no citations were given or filed, some kind of immunity, nice huh...
Parking is a huge problem in NYC so it was and probably still is mandatory for hand painted signage on trucks there, I see the point. I also understand why a signshop must be versatile in order to complete its voyage while in business.
Oh well, some will never get it Posted by David Wright (Member # 111) on :
I'm sure vinyl lettering would be just as good and possibly what the company really means as opposed to the temporary nature of magnetics.
I wouldn't comply for such a request for only one company. The state of Michigan requires trucks of a certain size/weight to have permanent markings etc. instead of magnetics.
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Si, Is that Alexandria as in Alexandria, Egypt? Is that Arabic on the front?
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
quote: I wouldn't comply for such a request for only one company.
why in the hell not David?
such a request? man you make it sound like he asked for you to dig the hoover dam with a teaspoon.
Posted by Rovelle W. Gratz (Member # 4404) on :
I know there are no Terrorist Sign Painters, especially Letterheads or Pinheads.....They don't keep secrets. Thank God.
Posted by David Wright (Member # 111) on :
Bob, I meant if I was that trucker. Why if everyone else I have to deal with says vinyl lettering is ok but this one company wants it hand lettered. Now from the standpoint of my sign business, I will do it anyway you want. One shot with a mask, hand lettered, vinyl, maybe even sharpies.
As far as the Hoover dam project, I would bid high.
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
hahaha wise guy!
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
I agree that any criminal can circumvent most security measures given enough time & resources. Of course, not all threats to whatever is behind an entry gate would be terrorists... but the appearance of semi-permanent vehicle identification lends a small measure of credibility to get through a low-security gate where the guard is probably just needing to document "who" goes in and out.
anyone could slap a magnet on with their foot... but all my vinyl truck doors are "hand letered" Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Yes Wayne....that truck went to Egypt, and that is Arabic in gold leaf!
Did many of those that went to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Venezuela, England, Canada, China, etc. Unfortunately for me, the company that produced them was bought by a rival, and moved back east....too far to commute!
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
The original Egyptians were doing gold leaf thousands of years ago. They have even found many mummies which were gilded.
Posted by Elaine Beauchemin (Member # 136) on :
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I don't think I would like to do that even if I did get paid for it!!!!![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
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