A West Yorkshire fleet graphics company is helping its customers stay safe, and stay legal, with its strategy for fleet safety graphics.

Leading Edge has been providing bespoke vehicle wrapping and graphics since the business was set up eight years ago.

Since then, it has been expanding and upgrading its facilities and equipment, and investing in the skills of its specially trained team to ensure customers are compliant when it comes to adhering to new safety regulations.

With the recent amendments to Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signals Manual, which now covers all vehicles working or stopping on any UK motorway, even more fleet vehicles will be affected by the guidelines set out by the Department for Transport, says Leading Edge.

One of Leading Edge’s biggest clients is tyre specialist, ATS. Matthew Evans, managing director of Leading Edge, explains how safety across ATS’s fleet is achieved: “Producing high quality Chapter 8-compliant graphics requires great skill and extensive technical knowledge. And, although the guidelines are not yet legislated, they are considered best practice in the industry and many organisations will not work with non-compliant vehicles.

“ATS currently have over 1,000 vehicles on the road; each one is covered by a five year lease. Leading Edge’s role is to apply the safety markings, maintain them through the life of the lease providing any repairs necessary, and also decommission them at the end of the vehicles working life and prepare them for re-sale.

“We are able to successfully deliver on all these demands, even when needed at the drop of a hat. Also, by using one company which is able to cover the whole of the UK, the client can ensure consistency in the colour, materials and quality across all our vans.”     

He continued: “Different vehicles require specific markings, whether it is the ‘battenberg’ style checks on police cars or chevrons traditionally associated with ambulances, so we consider each vehicle individually.      

“We also pre-prepare and store a variety of Chapter 8 livery so that we can deliver and install them at a moment’s notice wherever they are needed.

“As all our facilities are 3M approved and we use only 3M products, such as retroreflective and microprismatic materials, we can ensure that the high visibility markings we produce stay in peak condition year after year.”

Leading Edge produces vehicle graphics, signage, display graphics, exhibition and display stands, logos, marketing literature and promotional gifts.