HansonSigns

I tend to agree. You really have to weed out the glop to get to the helpful stuff. I think that by their very nature, sign mags are careful not to offend their advertisers with negative sounding articles. So writing said articles is a real challenge, but I think it could be done. If you have time to do it, that is!

We've worked with FSG - they pay in 50 days and the people are reasonably nice to work for.

I think it's a knee jerk reaction to the crane accidents that have happened within the last few years. And those were construction / tower cranes, not our teeny sign cranes. The written part of the course was all about safety - keep the load under control, don't hit anything with it, etc. The practical test was all about finishing the course fast. Hitting the cones and keeping the load under control was not the goal. This is the test from the NATIONAL Crane cert organization that has set the standards for crane usage. Do I think it's necessary? Yes and no - training is essential before you use a crane, but this is ridiculous. It cost us $1700 for two guys to go thru this course, and they have to be recertified every five years. But my boss just found out if your crane is listed (and marked) as not lifting anything under 2000 lbs, you only have to have some safety training for operating the crane. I'm not sure of the full details yet, but that makes more sense than a speed test which does not promote safety for personnel (not to mention neon signs!!). Just MHO

Well, Washington State has decided that it's crane operators all need to be certified to operate the cranes. So, we sent our two operators to a class (we paid for it) for two days and one day for the practical test. Has anyone else done this? What kind of comments did your installers have? Here's the video link for part of the practical test.... comments, anyone? http://washingtoncraneschool.com/crane_practical_test.asp

Arryn, Our shop is smaller but we pay our sales/estimator (he does both) at the higher end of the scale. No Commission - and he has some other percs as well. I think Geraldi hit it right on. Cheers!

Our equipment is great - the wilkie ladder (50') is on it's third truck, the crane truck is a 2001 Skylift (55'), all works great. We don't need anything taller since nowhere we go do they allow anything over 12'.... sometimes we do have to sub out a crane from a local company. Hey, anyone have their crane operators officially licensed? We are paying almost $1800 to have two guys get their operators license for our 55' crane.

We love our BK franchisees, and always install as much of whatever as they want. Our local franchise owner even sticks up for us with the national sign companies - he doesn't pay them until we get paid. This upgrade seems pretty severe for the economic times for the franchise owners - how many are going to fold if they can't get this done?

I'd love to see a nighttime view of the solar powered sign.

KGirl - Great article - simple and to the point. Where did you find it? What does the author do?

arrg!

http://www.biawblog.com/ The BIAW here in Washington State just launched this blog - thought it was pretty interesting.

I'll post the new one when we make it. I really like the Crannie facility - very sharp!

Because we are located in a mostly rural residental area, we are not allowed to have a lighted sign..... and limited on size to about 3x5. I am NOT taking a picture of that pathetic thing! We have talked about redoing it, when it slows down and we aren't all on vacation...

Well, I don't have the photos (they are on our designers computer) but you can see our samples at our newly revamped website http://hansonsigns.com. Not to be confused with www.hansonsign.com, they are in NY and a much larger facility than us.

Well, one of our installers (he also happens to be my hubby) recycles sign faces by using them as tails for his windmills. The black tail also has LEDs and a generator - when it's windy, the tail lights. It's pretty cool! The belt (innertube) is hooked to an old bike tire rim. The yellow vanes are bumper pipe covers we removed for a customer, the black vanes are scrap pipe (pvc 10"). the small angle aluminum attaching the vanes are scraps from several signs, and the middle of the signs are aluminum panel scraps. All of these come from take downs - he's had to buy minimal materials for this hobby. Of course, I have to help install them, and some of the suckers are heavy!

Sad when we have to resort to these kind of tactics, but I really like your solution!

Alan, I've been sent contracts similar to the one National Signs tried to get you to sign. What BS! I never ever sign one of those "contracts" until I've gone thru it with a fine tooth comb. And I'm not a lawyer, but I think it's illegal to force a subcontractor to give up a right to lien a job. And I make sure they understand that we are working for them and they gotta pay us regardless of their contract with the client.

Yeah, we used to average 8-10 service calls as week, but for the last few months it's been about 2. People are keeping tight hold on their money. On the other hand, we have had several long standing customers open new stores and call us. But all in all, it's slow. So we are all taking turns at taking days off (vacation!) and the boss paid for a couple of continuing education classes for our electricians.

That's hilarious! Great idea!

I've always thought this site is positive. I've seen lots of people with questions get them answered here. You gotta remember, the 'net makes it possible for all kinds of people to post, so don't judge a site by one or two threads.... especially when anyone can register multiple user profiles (mups) on a site. Mups suck, but this site doesn't! I'm grateful for the love of God the health of my family my low savings account (I saved enough to get my car serviced recently) the food in my freezer (even the stuff I don't like) my almost finished kitchen! honest people everyone with a sense of humor I could go on........ and on...... one of the hazards of thinking positive, I guess!

Well, UK, we get the right to smile while we are being ....... well, never mind.

Yeah, Bobby at Nissan was very helpful. I haven't heard of Nova... good luck!

She probably is - I just hate not getting a straight answer. But I got my check from Nissan today to cover one of the IP jobs we did! Go Nissan!

Yeah, I just saw that link on Signweb and was gonna post it here but you beat me to it! Here is Phil's email 'philh@productsafet.com'

On the positive side, FEDEX called me and let me know I have a letter coming from Nissan - it was addressed to our PO Box and FX wanted to know where I wanted it sent. So that's a good thing!java script:add_smilie("","smid_31")