Services / Specialty Platforms
Specialty Platforms
Some surfaces don't behave like a truck door. Apparatus, excavators, sleds, boats and farm machinery each have their own rules — about material, about surface prep, and in some cases about what the law requires. This is the work where getting the spec right matters more than getting it cheap.
What's covered
The vehicles that aren't just vehicles.
Emergency vehicles
Fire, rescue, ambulance and enforcement. Striping, chevrons, unit numbers and department crests — done to the standard the apparatus is held to.
Heavy equipment
Excavators, loaders and construction machinery. Rough service, aggressive washing, and surfaces that were never designed for graphics.
Large commercial trucks
Tankers, propane and fuel units. Regulated markings, hazard placarding placement and high-visibility requirements.
Off-road & recreation
ATVs, side-by-sides and sleds. Compound curves everywhere and plastics that need priming to hold anything at all.
Agricultural equipment
Tractors and farm machinery. Long service lives, heavy UV exposure and surfaces that flex.
Aviation & marine
Aircraft and boats. Gelcoat and painted aluminium both need specific prep, and neither forgives a shortcut.
Motorsport
Race cars and sponsor liveries. Tight deadlines, exact sponsor placement, and layouts that read at speed.
Not sure where yours fits?
If it has a surface and you want your name on it, ask. Most of what's on this page started as somebody phoning to ask whether it was possible.
Materials
On emergency apparatus, the grade isn't a preference.
Reflective film comes in grades, and they aren't interchangeable. On fire and rescue apparatus the required grade is set by standard, not by budget — and the department, not the sign shop, carries the liability for a non-compliant vehicle.
Engineer grade
General signage and identificationThe entry grade. Fine for property signage, non-critical identification and markings where retroreflectivity isn't doing safety work.
- Around 70 candelas — the baseline
- Suitable for yard and property signs
- Low cost
- Does not meet apparatus requirements
High intensity prismatic
Emergency apparatus and highwayA prismatic film that returns dramatically more light to a driver's headlights. This is the grade written into apparatus standards for primary markings and chevrons.
- Roughly three to four times the return
- Required for compliant chevron work
- Holds up to washing and weather
- The correct spec for a squad or engine
Specifying engineer grade where high intensity is required isn't a budget option. It's a compliance failure, and it sits on the department. We'd rather tell you that at quoting than have it found at an inspection.
Diamond grade sits above both, for apparatus where maximum conspicuity justifies the cost. We'll tell you which grade your application actually calls for — and on the occasions where the cheaper film genuinely is the right answer, we'll tell you that too.
What it costs
Quoted after we've seen the machine.
We won't quote specialty work off a description. An excavator, a gelcoat hull and a side-by-side are three different surfaces with three different prep requirements, and the only way to price them honestly is to look at them.
- Surface and prepGelcoat, powder coat, textured plastic and bare aluminium each need different cleaning, and some need priming before anything will hold.
- Material gradeStandard vinyl, engineer grade or high intensity prismatic. On regulated work this isn't a choice we get to make.
- Complexity and accessCompound curves, guarding, tracks and hydraulics all add install time — and some machines need to be somewhere specific to work on safely.
- Compliance requirementsApparatus and regulated commercial vehicles have placement and coverage rules that shape the whole layout.
For anything regulated, we'd rather spend the extra hour up front confirming what the standard requires than have you find out later that the job has to be redone.
Chevron work on SQ-2 — placement, coverage and grade all set by the standard the apparatus is held to.
How the job runs
Four steps, and one of them is yours.
We look at the machine
In person. Surface type, condition, curves, obstacles and access all get assessed before anything is quoted.
Design & proof
Layout built to whatever standard applies, then proofed for approval. Design is a paid step and shows on your quote — on apparatus it includes confirming placement against the requirements.
Production
Approved artwork goes into production on the specified material and grade, laminated for the service the machine sees, then ships to Bridge Lake.
Install
Prep to suit the surface, primer where the plastic needs it, relief cuts through the curves, every edge post-heated.
Timeline Specialty materials aren't always on the shelf — high intensity prismatic and diamond grade in particular can add lead time on top of normal production and freight. If your apparatus has an in-service date or an inspection coming, tell us at the first conversation and we'll work backwards from it.
Recent work
Apparatus and specialty surfaces.
Questions we get asked
The ones that come up every time.
Will the chevrons meet the standard?
That's the point of specifying properly. Apparatus standards set the grade, the coverage and the placement for primary markings, and we lay the job out against those rather than against what looks about right. If you're unsure what applies to your unit, bring us in early — it's easier to plan than to correct.
Can you do just the unit number?
Yes, and plenty of departments start there. Numbers, crests and single-panel work are all straightforward. We'll quote exactly the scope you want and won't push you into a full kit you didn't ask for.
Our equipment lives outside year-round. Will graphics survive?
With the right material and proper prep, yes. Heavy equipment is hard on graphics — UV, pressure washing, branches, dust — so we spec more durably for machines than we would for a truck that sleeps in a shop. Expect a conversation about laminate rather than just film.
Boats and sleds — is that different?
Materially, yes. Gelcoat can hold mould release residue that stops adhesive working, and some plastics have such low surface energy that nothing sticks without primer. Both are routine if you prep them properly and both fail fast if you don't.
Can you work around existing graphics?
Usually. Matching into an existing scheme, replacing one panel, or adding a unit to a fleet that another shop started — all doable. We'll be upfront about how close a match we can get before you commit.
Do you come to us?
For anything that can't easily be driven to Bridge Lake, yes. Machinery, apparatus and equipment usually get looked at and often installed where they live.