Start with the flat parts
Every vehicle has a few spots where vinyl sits flat and reads well, and a lot of spots where it doesn't: door handles, fuel doors, body lines, rub rails and wheel wells. Before any design starts, we map those zones on your actual trucks and trailers. The drawings below show the idea on three common rigs, drawn to the same scale, with the flat area of each zone worked out in square feet.
| Vehicle | Flat zones | Usable flat area | Keep clear |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crew cab pickup | Logo; Phone line | 12.6 sq ft per side | door handle, fuel door, wheel wells |
| Box truck | Logo and services; Phone and web; Door logo | 103.1 sq ft per side | door handle, rub rail, wheel wells |
| Open landscape trailer | Name and phone | 5.6 sq ft per side | mesh sides, ramp gate, wheel wells |
Concept drawings made for this site. Real measurements come from photos and the make and model of your vehicles.
What goes where
A truck gets a few seconds of attention, so it should carry very little: the logo, one line about what you do, and one way to reach you. On a pickup, the logo goes on the door between the wheel well and the handle, and the phone number and web address run along the bed rail where the eye lands next. On a box truck the big side panel holds the logo and a short service list, while the contact line sits low and wide. On an open trailer, a bolted sign panel gives you a flat spot that mesh sides never will.
Readable from the street
We set letter heights for the distance people will read from. Neighbors read a parked truck from across the street; drivers read a moving one from two or three car lengths. Bold, plain letterforms beat thin script every time, and a strong contrast between letters and background matters more than any particular color. If your trucks are white, we design for white. If they are a mix of colors, we build the graphics on a backing shape so they read the same on all of them.
Matching a mixed fleet
Most crews don't buy every truck at once. You might have a ten-year-old pickup, a newer one in a different color and a borrowed trailer. We make one layout system and adapt it to each vehicle, so the fleet reads as one company in the yard even when no two trucks are the same.
Files for the installer
Wrap and lettering shops want vector files at full size or a stated scale, with text outlined and colors called out. Cut vinyl needs solid single-color shapes; printed wraps can carry photos and gradients. We send what your shop asks for, and we're glad to talk with them directly before anything is printed.
Questions
Do you install the graphics?
No. We design and prepare the files, and your local shop prints and installs them.
Do I need any lettering by law?
Some states and some types of work require a company name or registration numbers on commercial vehicles. Check your state's rules; we leave room for whatever text you are required to carry.
Full wrap or partial?
Partial graphics on the flat zones cost less and are easier to replace when a truck is sold. A full wrap gives more color but costs more to print and install. We can design either; the quote will show the scope.
New truck arriving before the busy season? Send photos of what you have now and tell us which piece has to be ready first.
Request a quote