paul321

My 19 year old asked me if I had any cars with crank down windows ? I started thinking, this kid, any many of his age have no concept of how easy they have it. Now they push buttons for everything. When I started in the sign business at 17. The shops had real sign painters who were "God" They told you the sign you were getting and the colors too. They designed it in pencil, a wooden yardstick on a piece of white roll out paper and "One Shot" paint. No computers, no PMS Colors or any back talk from anyone. The patterns were also drawn by hand. All the plastic letters were cut with jig saws and band saws. The trim installed by hand. The entire sign was a combination of skilled talent. How many remember the "Flicker signs" Installing these plastic black boards on the sign backgrounds and then installing thousands of these quarter sized colored flickers,all by hand. The flickers would move in the wind and create a waving appearance. Pounce patterns by hand and pouncing powered charcoal thru them. The best was the salesmen, designing and selling entire jobs on a piece of paper. Anything that you could write on. A hand shake, cash deposit and good to go. Those were the days when we were having fun. Any other stories out there. Todays unknown languages.......One Shot..Cut all..Charcoal sticks..Quills..Flats..

How many of you can have a truck and crew on the road 24 hrs 7 Days a week at a moments call anytime, weekends, holidays etc. I mean on the road with a fully loaded ready to work truck. We started this service when I opened in 1984. It was easy with only a few customers. Today it's a full time part of the job. Thanksgiven Dinners and Christmas has always been interupted with calls. It has been very profitable and rewarding for my company. There is alot of work out there if you want it.

I'm in....sounds great. Maybe we can educate the customer with real information

New York State...Workers comp is almost $ 33. per hundred on installers. Everyone is charged from the receptionist to the salesman and up the line. Insurance cost have become a new partner. I agree with charging the full rate to other sign companies. Either they are unable to do the work or they dont have the required licenses, insurances or knowledge. Someone needs to pay for all the expenses of doing business. We do alot of work for the "other" companies. I tell them the price and find out that they are selling the complete job for less then my services only. Alot of them have no ideas, no insurances, nothing. The real sign companies, friends and associates get better pricing, and they get the correct pricing for the job. I know these companies will be there for me and expect to be paid for their valued services too. Think of this before you start the day. New York City. The day starts with all the normal expenses of doing business, the employee issues and getting the jobs done. Now before the truck leaves the shop. New York City Police issues parking tickets, $ 115. Drive a few streets, or cross any tunnel, bridge or toll and get stopped. Check point time. NYPD, Traffic Enforcement, Bridge and Tunnels, Port Authority, State DOT. Everyone gets a piece of you. Guaranteed a ticket, Thousands of Dollars and time. Sometimes put out of service, spilled diesel on the gas tank. That was $ 1200. for the tow and court alone. Then get to the job site. Another parking ticket for $ 115. Do this for every truck on the road, everyday. Thats only the good days without a other issues. Annnnnd.....Thousands of people who get in your way while you are working. I think we deserve every dollar we make. Get paid on time from everyone, customers and nationals. They dont care about your problems. Yes. I'm still having fun and enjoy doing this for over 25 years. Its not a job, its an entertainment adventure.

I don't know about legal sizes. I do know that these spaces seem to get smaller and harder to get into as I get older.

How many of us work outside in the dark ? I had some extra time and installed white LEDs inside the tool boxes on my truck. Its simple, the LEDs are 12 volt and wired into anything on the truck . I hooked them into the running lights. Trucks running lights are on, I have all the inside tool boxes lighted. You could also use a separate switch. Now its great to see everything. Maybe its another side business to do.

The Sign Show is coming in December to Atlantic City NJ. I've going there for years. All the propaganda comes out here. In the past several weeks I have had 5 or 6 LED representatives come to my shop and put on the show. They all tell me how great their products are and how much cheaper they are compared to the others. Now the fun starts for me. Most are orientals who dont know anything but "LED, good, cheap price for you" The quality sucks the lights go dim and you cant find them to tell them anything. Usually I dont give them more than 3 minutes before I lose my temper. The digital displays is a whole other article for later. How many times do you lose a customer because your prices are higher. You bid out a job using Sloan. GE or a reputable company that stands the test. Or at least guarantees their product. The customer comes back and says "you're to high, I got a price using LED that was alot cheaper. They dont know anything except..L E D Sometimes I can convince them, sometimes not. I usually see them in 6 months wondering why their signs are dimming Neon will always be around and someone will always be able to fix it. I've repaired neon in signs that are over 70 years old and still working Any ideas or how others are dealing with this

I want both. I want and expect free delivery and credit. If Im a loyal customer and spend Hundreds of thousands, I expect them to do whatever they need to do to keep me happy. I get three deliveries a day from 2 different suppliers who battle for my business. I also get Sunday and after hours delivery at no addl charge. I can get what ever I need 24 7 and at my terms

Yes we are in a safety group and receive all discounts. Look at the groups policy prices, mine gets 10% of the WC policy for their policy. They give a return, but we are never ahead. We are paying the price for everyone who has no insurance.

isn't new york state wonderful - due to this increase we have had to increase our service and installation rates by 10.00 an hour each. the only thing we have going is we are in a really good safety group with a 25% discount and a great dividend every year. How about you? In a safety group?

I just got my new NY State Workers Compensation Rates. This is mandatory in NYS. Sign Hangers and Service related employees are now $ 29.00 on the hundred. Thats a 52% increase in one shot. At $ 50,000 its an extra $ 14,500. $ 100,000 is $ 29,000.Per salery. What a great place to work, I have not had a single claim in 25 years. Add this to all the other insurances and requirements. Hows the rest of the states doing

I dont know how many employees you have, but this becomes a waste of valuable time and costs you money to keep track of it. We started a new policy several years ago and it works out grreat for everyone. You get paid for the hours you work. If you take off more than 3 hrs of the day, then you take the whole day off. Vacation and sick days were also a problem of employees mixing and swapping them. This ended too. We now have "paid days off" Each employee gets a certain amount depending upon length of employment. For example, after 4 years you get 20 days off paid. You can use them for sick days, vacation or sick of working, it is your days. When these days are used up, you're out of paid days off. Period. Of course they get paid holidays too. This seems to work the best for everyone. These P.D.O.s can not be grouped more than 5 days at a time.

Rocco. If you are buying a brand new truck, make sure that the new emission requirements are considered for the boom operations. The new emissions will shut down the truck if not spected correctly. This is something that a real manufacturer will know. If you need any photos of my Manitex, give me a call

Rocco, I bought my 1st SX57 by Phoenix in 1998. The boom was great it worked without any problems. 2nd one was better. Manitex bought out Phoenix. Manitex 62 is by far better than anything yet. Solid as a rock fully extended, works like a raped ape 6 days a week without any problems. I had Stamm Industries do all the assembly and bodywork. Call John, the owner in Florida. He will do anything you need and there will be no problems at all. Its time to by a real truck and make money.

I have been ahead of the loss game so far. Any loss is money out of MY profits. Some losses are out of your control, out of business customers or unavoidable accidents. After many years of accepting it I have changed my ways, here are a few......... 1 Every new shop employee, we hold back 2 weeks pay, or he can pay upfront as a deposit. This is held for tool loses or damaged. His mistakes that cost me, now its his cost. If he decides to just leave and not come back, he just paid me for his decision. 2 Everyone on the outside trucks, $ 1500. Deposit. This is my way of them not damaging, not caring about MY equipment. This equipment pays everyones salery and is expensive to repair. All my trucks are top shelf and are loaded with every option and more. Not one truck leaves without the heat or AC working. 3 Make everyone, including the salesmen accountable for their mistakes. If it comes out of their pocket, they dont like it and they wont do it again. 4 REWARD them...No damages to the trucks, faster production, Keeping costs down. Give them a bonus and let the others know. 5 OTHER SIGN COMPANIES. Nationals, Locals, I am not their bank. I do not finance them. All work requires a deposit of 50%. The balance is on MY terms. If they dont like it, they were not going to pay you anyway. I dont waste my time on them, they will be back under my terms. I learned of this from an outerstate trucker who crashed into one of my trucks on his delivery. Except that he had to give a $ 5000. deposit to the company before they would hire him. The company used his money as the deductable for insurance. He said that he waited 6 years to get a job with this company. They had a list of people waiting. The company was great to work for.....he was already there 15 years. I dont want to sound like I rule with an iron fist. but since I put this in place, Im way ahead of the losses, and all my workers are making more because I make more. They also dont accept mistakes from the other workers.

Ronnie at Signs Hanging. I do not know you or your company, but I do know alot about sign trucks. I have used them for over 30 years. I have designed and sat down with the engineers of the major names. My ideas and their experience have made many changes that make the sign industry a better place. At no time did any company build a truck that was not code compliant or unsafe. It is the manufacturers job to build a deliver a compliant truck. They are experts. I have never seen Skylift at any sign shows or in the field. I do not know anyone on this website or in the industry who has a Skylift. I do not know if you are the owner who pays for the equipment, or a worker who uses it and just gets a paycheck at the end of the week. As an owner, I want a quality built truck that is going to last. If it needs to be fixed, I want it fixed by a responsible person. I dont want a truck that no one will touch. The people on this site have combined thousands of years experience in this industry and not one has said anything good about Skylift. I also find it extremely difficult to believe that you are a NEW YORK sign company who went to KENTUCKY to see Skylift for yourself. I cant find time for lunch and dinner is anytime from 8 to midnight if at all. Please send some pictures of your trucks so we all can see what you have, put up or hang up.

Why are you even thinking of taking delivery of this truck. The problems now are overwhelming and its not even ready. I cant imagine what the repairs will be in the future. Who knows if this manufacturer will be in business. From the look of it, they dont have any $$$ backing or a future in the crane business. Talk to a good lawyer, and if need be take the loss now before you throw all your money away. This truck doesnt look like its going to be a winner ever. Re sell the chassis as a car carrier. This truck is a cancer. The Achi in the photo was an excellent truck, well thought and planned out by "the Japs" Achi is a company with over 30 years in the business. I own a 10 year old one, used 6 days a week none stop. Never ever a problem. ****** The man in the bucket has no full body safety harness, Big $$$$$ OSHA Fine, and very dangerous ******

We have 2 policies....Retail customers always give 50% deposits for the sign work and pay for permits in full. The balances are due at time of completed installation. The balances are paid in full by cash, certified check or credit cards. Credit cards are a 50/50 chance sometimes. We do not accept credit cards for fast one time signs, This has worked very well for over 20 years. National account sign companies, all new accounts pay 50% deposits and permits in full. Terms are very limited to within 30 days, unless there are pre-set terms that I agree to. Rush jobs are always prepaid. When a national sign company needs you there now, I want payment now too. It works, believe me. We do have many "long term" national accounts that pay on time, they are the ones we cater to, they are golden. We have some that pay us upfront because they to know money talks and we make them look great. We have others who pay by credit card as soon as the sign off and photo is received. The bad ones are weeded out fast. When I, and almost everyone I know eats, gets a new car or buys anything we have to pay for it then. We dont eat today and pay in 30 to 90 days or when we feel like it. I like making signs, not chasing money. What ever works for you, dont be afraid to make the rules.

Fist question....What type of truck, cab over of conventional. Your rear wheel to the end of the truck looks like about 10 ft. There will be alot of wieght back there. Was the chassis rails re-enforced, are there rear springs or air bags,can they carry the wieght. It appears that the front end of the truck will be hoping off the ground as you drive. All manufactures must comply with safety tests, which are loading the crane with wieghts at different angles. As far as the engineering of this truck, I dont like the overhang. When you make turns this is going to swing out wide, very wide. Before you take delivery, call a few real manufacturers like Manitex, Elliot and ask them.

Thanks to all for the information, This is what will make our industry better. Its good that we can share whos who. I hope that keeping everyone updated will stop the "Fairmonts" in our industry Thanks again paul