Commercial Carrier Journal and the National Private Truck Council, Alexandria, Va., have co-sponsored the Commercial Fleet Graphics Awards since 1978 to recognize individual and corporate commitments to excellence in the design and use of commercial vehicle markings.
CCJ and the NPTC continue to coordinate, sponsor and publicize these awards for three reasons. First, attractive trucks enhance the public’s perception of the motor carrier industry. Second, encouraging design excellence is good marketing. An effective vehicle graphic design sends a controlled, positive message about a company and its products on a mobile billboard rolling down the highway. And finally, more conspicuous vehicles add to the margin of safety on our highways. That is especially true at night, when reflective materials – beyond those required by law – are used.
“The National Private Truck Council greatly appreciates the partnership with Commercial Carrier Journal’s Vehicle Graphics competition and acknowledges the contest as one of the leading Fleet Recognition Programs in the country. The NPTC/CCJ Graphics Awards helps showcase the most creative and effective graphic trucking programs in the industry.”
The Commercial Fleet Graphics Awards competition is open to fleets operating vans, straight trucks, tractor-trailers and buses. Excluded from the competition are fleet cars and one-of-a-kind, special purpose vehicles, such as show trucks. The contest has two categories: Day and Night, and there is no distinction for vehicle type. Each category has a first-, second- and third-place winner, and an optional honorable mention place may be awarded at the judges’ discretion.
Entries in the 2001 contest were judged by:
· Avery Vise, editorial director,
Commercial Carrier Journal
· George Mundell, vice president-operations,
National Private Truck Council
· Stephen Campbell, executive director,
Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance
· Tony Breland, art director
Commercial Carrier Journal
Second-pace day winner Jack-In-The-Box graphics feature some of the company’s core products.
“As a graphic designer, I was happy to see such a wide array of excellent work,” says Tony Breland, judge and art director of CCJ. “It really shines a positive light on the design field and the trucking industry.”
Winning by day
The first-place day winner, Elwood, Ind.-based Red Gold, has been processing tomato products since 1942. Red Gold products include Red Gold, Redpack, and Tuttorosso Canned Tomatoes and Red Gold and Sacramento Tomato and Vegetable Juices. Currently the fleet consists of 120 vehicles with 34 displaying the award-winning graphics. “We believe high impact fleet graphics augment and enhance our integrated advertising and marketing support programs,” says Greg Metzger, director of marketing. “Our objective for the new design was to create a unique and appealing graphic approach that would break through the clutter of everyday advertising. Our over-the-road vehicle graphics program reinforces the premium quality image of the Red Gold Brand and our company in a dramatic manner.”
The second-place day winner is Jack-In-The-Box, San Diego, which operates and franchises more than 1,800 franchises primarily in the Western United States. The company sees the truck graphics, featured on 15 of the company’s 114-vehicle fleet, as a way to increase awareness of both the company’s brand and its specific products. The graphics, featuring the company’s core products, reinforce the quality of the food that you can get at a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant, says Sherma Lewis, marketing manager. “In the future, we’re looking forward to using new flexible graphics that will allow us to focus on more regional campaigns,” she says.
First-place night winner T.W. Garner Food Company’s graphics (above) vividly display one of the company’s most popular products, Texas Pete hot sauces.
Third-place day winner Mayfield Dairy Farms produces 31,000 to 35,000 gallons of ice cream a day and 250,000 gallons of milk a day at its plants located in Athens, Tenn., and Braselton, Ga. Although Mayfield produces a number of ice cream flavors, its 700-vehicle fleet features its most popular flavors, including its well-known Turtle Tracks. Mark Stiles, director of fleet, facilities and equipment for Mayfield, says Mayfield’s graphics let consumers know that its ice cream is “not just good, but it’s also fun and lively. It gives our company and product brand identity. It’s a rolling billboard, promoting our consumers’ favorite ice cream flavors.”
Winning by night
The first-place night winner is T.W. Garner Food Company, located in Winston-Salem, N.C. The company, which originally began as a barbeque stand, has been producing Garner’s jams, jellies, preserves and sauces since 1929. All of the fleet’s 15 trucks feature the company’s best-known product, Texas Pete hot sauces. Flaming-red reflective graphics serve as extra advertising for Texas Pete in a highly competitive market.
Second-place night winner, Toll Integrated Systems, a division of Toll Brothers Inc., which builds luxury homes, is located in Morrisville, Pa. Fifty of the company’s 75 trucks feature the design. The design is a prototype of the company’s No. 2 selling house in the East Coast, says Ed Jesus, assistant plant manager. “The designs give us a different audience across the country. The more people that see our product, the better,” he says.
