• by November 17, 2000

An article on November 12th in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette describes not only the new phenomenon of traveling billboards, but some of the details of implementation by J.B. Hunt Transport Services in conjunction with Transport Media Network in Madison, WS. In this case, billboards are more than stationary features on the landscape: They're passing drivers, waiting at red lights and parked at truck stops all over the country. It’s truly a focused medium.

Traveling advertisements are already a common sight on urban passenger buses. Now advertisers will have an opportunity to take them a step further. Advertising on trailers is a growing market with annual revenues of about $100 million, said Stephen Freitas, chief marketing officer of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. The truck sides can penetrate parts of the market not attainable by traditional forms. The advertisements will run on the trucking company's dedicated fleet of 3,900 tractors and 4,200 trailers. Most of the advertising space will be leased by the truck, not piecemeal with multiple advertisements on one truck. The company doesn't want to run the risk of offending advertisers by placing ads from competing businesses on the same truck.

Marty Krueger, Transport Media Network's vice president says "What you're getting with a trailer-side billboard or trailer-size advertisements is a very large image, and if you shrink the image down I don't think you're getting the full effect."

Krueger did say the price will vary depending on the number of trucks that display an advertisement and the length of time it runs. He also said the cost is about a third less than leasing a traditional billboard.

Some major advertisers that have embraced truck side advertising are McDonald's Corp. and state lotteries, especially the Texas State lottery. For the Texas lottery, the interest in truck side advertising is tied to highway truck stops, where most of the lottery tickets are sold.

The advertisements, which can run on either a 48-foot or a 53-foot truck, are first printed on a durable vinyl sheeting, which is then applied to the side of the truck. Advertisers can choose from various grades of vinyl, from sheets that last a year to sheets that last five years. Advertisements on traveling vehicles isn't new. The parking and transit department at the University of Arkansas started leasing space on the inside of its passenger buses three years ago. The university has over a million riders on the buses a year. The advertisements are small, 18 by 24 inches, and cost about $300 a month.

The complete article may be read here.