With more beverage fleets using their trucks as portable billboards for their products, truck and trailer appearance has become a major concern – and expense –for fleet managers.

Faded body paint and graphics present a poor product image. As a result, fleet managers must find cost-effective ways to keep their trucks looking like new a they get old.

A Florida company has come up with an innovative answer to that problem. Next Step Innovations, Inc., Miami, has developed Vivilon, a nylon-based clear spray-on coating. Vivilon will last for five years without cracking, peeling or
fading, says Bill Rice, Next Step’s president and Vivilon’s creator.

Rice developed Vivilon roughly 14 years ago, marketing it first for use on school buses. He wanted to create a product that:

	could be applied without a special paint booth;
	would require a minimum of equipment down time; and
	would last at long as high-performance polyurethane.

In 1989, he expanded Vivilon marketing to the transport arena, selling to such clients as United Parcel Service. Now, Next Step is branching out again, selling to beverage fleets.

In 1994, a government research study recommended Vivilon, saying “Vivilon-coated vehicles turned out with a high-gloss finish that did not require waxing and withstood repeatedly harsh weather conditions and high-pressure washing with strong detergents.” Repainting a beverage trailer, for example, can cost from $2,500 to $4,000, Rice estimates.

Coating a truck with Vivilon from Next Step Innovations produces a high-gloss finish that can stand up to harsh weather and strong detergents.

The cost of applying a coat of Vivilon to a 12 bay trailer would be only about $100 assuming a $50 cost for half a gallon of the product and five hours of labor at $10 a hour for a beverage fleet employee to do the work, he says.

After cleaning the truck, any touchup work should be done, preferable with acrylic enamel, and all glass masked. Once the Vivilon has been applied, a second coat can be added to increase the road life of the coating job, he notes. Final touch-up work can be done with acrylic enamel.
A truck treated with Vivilon can be back in service in roughly 90 minutes, he says. Subsequent washings becomes easier because dirt can not work its way into paint pores thanks to the Vivilon coating, he says.

Vivilon also can save fleet managers money when ordering new equipment, Rice says. New trucks and trailers can be speced with acrylic enamel rather than higher-priced but longer-lasting paints. Vivilon can then be applied to extend the road life of the new equipment’s paint job, he says.

Next Step sells Vivilon and also will apply the product on-site to fleets of at least 10 vehicles, Rice says. The product comes with a five-year guarantee. Work done by the company also carries a five year guarantee, Rice says.

NOTE: Although prices for both material and labor have increased because of the dramatic jump in oil prices, this article was our introduction to major beverage companies, like Budweiser, Miller, Pepsi, Coke, etc.