There are a number of things in life most of us simply don’t think about. Like, say, how the centerline is painted on the highway.
This 2004 Sterling is in service for the Missouri Department of Transportation and is located at their district office here in Jefferson City. I’ve seen it periodically, and a few phone calls proved to be quite useful in getting a closer look. This being heavy truck week, a rig like this definitely fits the bill.
I met with Brandon, the supervisor of the striping crew. In addition to this machine, he has an identical one that he also supervises at another location sixty miles south of here. In all, the DOT has seventeen of them around the state. With 32,000 miles of highway, Missouri has the sixth largest highway system in the United States and these machines stripe all of it.
The weather needs to be above freezing with a pavement temperature above 45 degrees Fahrenheit for the stripe to stick to the road. In other words, from late October to late March this machine is dormant. However, winter is the ideal time to clean and prepare it for the next season. Brandon stated there are a number of handrails that have been removed for access to the various components…
…and assured me there isn’t usually a plastic bucket hanging on the front. The important pieces are all still in place, so let’s explore this very complex truck.
Paint is pulled onto the machine here on the right side of the truck. There is a tap for both yellow and white. The beginning of the season is in March or April (weather plays a huge factor); the annual goal is to have painted the interstates and major highways in Brandon’s district prior to Memorial Day. In that time, Brandon anticipates using around 100,000 gallons of paint between his two stripers. That same volume, if not more, will then be used during the rest of the season.
Each tank on the striper holds about 800 gallons. Brandon’s crew also has a nurse truck for each striper to keep the tanks replenished throughout the course of the day. On a typical highway in the United States, each skip along the centerline is 10′ long with a 30′ space between them. On roads having a lot of no-passing zones, the crew will rapidly go through a tank full of paint.
To provide reflectivity at night, glass beads are dropped onto the fresh paint at a rate of six to eight pounds per gallon. This is the bead tank.
The paint and beads are applied concurrently to the roadway surface with these guns. There is a set on each side so a centerline and edge line can be painted simultaneously. The two operators will sit in the back to control paint application and ensure the lines match. Striping is performed at a speed of about six to ten miles per hour.
Hauling all this material and equipment makes for a very heavy machine. While I failed to determine the curb weight of this truck…
…I did learn it is powered by an 8.8 liter Cummins diesel engine. Fuel economy for the two stripers averages about three miles per gallon. The truck powers a number of functions with the striper, so it does have to be left idling when being refilled with paint.
In order to provide air for the paint and beads to flow through their respective systems, there is also an additional four-cylinder diesel engine mounted crossways on the bed. The bulk of the plumbing for the paint and bead systems is constructed of stainless steel.
This truck was manufactured by M-B Companies of Chilton, Wisconsin. I learned there is a considerable amount of time that will elapse between order and delivery for these trucks, but that is to be expected. Any truck that cost $325,000 ten years ago and is such a specialty item is going to be custom built to a certain degree. Each customer is going to have unique needs such as power output, gearing, and capacities.
While the dual steering was optional, resale options are definitely much broader as this machine could easily go to work anywhere in the world without requiring steering modification.
All controls for the operation are addressed from the back. This console controls air pressure, downward pressure on the carriage, paint temperature, and application rates. There is a lot to do and I’ve been told six miles per hour can be mighty fast when a lot of things need to be addressed at once.
The driver and operator need to be in constant communication with each other regarding curves, hills, and traffic, so there is an intercom system in this truck. The steering wheels in the rear cab (there is one on each side of the operator compartment) will move the respective carriage that holds the paint and bead guns. Matching the existing line is something Brandon’s crew takes very seriously because their work is seen by countless people. Plus, not matching the existing line makes for an ugly highway, something the crew does not care to be associated with.
Depending upon the time of year, this truck may be painting twelve or more hours per day, seven days per week. It will apply several hundred thousand gallons of paint during the season. With the complexity of the system, there are a lot of lines and many things can break.
This machine will also get quite grimy during the season and the paint will build up on the walls of the tank. Winter is a great time to overhaul maintenance intensive components, do general clean-up, and address any issue that may have been identified during the season.
In addition to the nurse truck mentioned earlier, each striping crew will have up to three trucks with a mounted attenuator in the train behind the striper. It is unfortunate, but this striper has been hit a few times as have the attenuator trucks. The attenuator trucks serve as a buffer between the slow moving striper and traffic buzzing by at full speed.
While getting behind this truck can be an inconvenience, it and a crew of people are working diligently to keep highways safe and provide a highway that can be better seen at night. If you ever see such a sizable machine, you can now amaze everyone with your new found knowledge.
Very cool I operated something that removes painted lines and tar bleeds sort of the other end of the scale. One of these this one mounted on a Kenworth
Thank you for this informative article Jason. It’s amazing how far line painting technology has evolved. I remember when it wasn’t uncommon to see the same trucks used for this purpose for many years, as the technology simply never advanced.
Your article also reminded me to have another look at the Missouri DOTs renowned Tow Plows in action. Very clever invention.
Your posting that is very timely with our getting a more than average amount of snow yesterday. Leaving work at 3 pm, I was able to witness the tow plow in action. It is a very formidable piece of machinery.
Really a fun article. Thanks for getting together. It brings to mind how much R&D and technological innovation are behind the scenes in so many things in our everyday lives. Given the costs of striping/restriping and the obvious safety issues involved it is no wonder that the technology has improved. I am willing to bet that there is computer vision system in use somewhere with automatic controls that precisely places the new striping on top of the old. If not I am sure someone is working on one.
Wonder what the useful life of a rig like this is? With the maintenance that it appears to get it must be 30+ years.
Cars are productive for individuals and our daily lives, but what Curbside Classic is doing this week is showing all its readers that we have incredible classic vehicles that perform incredible tasks. We often discuss the pros and cons of something as simple as a back light design, but here we have kicked up the discussion ten-fold by discussing how a vehicle like this truck makes a remarkably tough task simple.
We take these Curbside classics for granted, don’t we? I am very glad that this week, these hard working guys get the spotlight and respect they have damn well earned!
Highly informative, Jason. But you missed a crucial part: What is the best way to get that yellow or white road paint splatter off of your wife’s car after she has driven over some freshly painted lines? I recall one very unpleasant day several years ago using a thumbnail and some very abrasive wax on the lower area of my Club Wagon. Whatever is in it, that line paint is tough stuff.
The paint is water borne latex, so theoretically it should wash off if caught soon enough. However, this poor striper has a lot of paint splatter on it and I am not certain what would need to be done. The next to last picture has a repurposed hoe to scrape the interior of the paint tanks – not a good sign.
You are right, this paint is tough. If it can repeatedly withstand snow plows, it is durable.
Above and beyond. Great piece!
Wow, Missouri is only 21st largest state, but it has a lot of highway to maintain. So, are you including Interstates, State Roads, County Roads, and Town Roads in that number? Up until a few years ago the NYSDOT had a few 1960s Ford Cabovers painting stripes and I do not know who paints the Interstates or the County Roads or the Town Roads. None of the roads in New York have reflective stripes and where I grew up road stripes are not as common as you would think for a number of reasons. Even if there are stripes I have seen a painting crew do a crappy job a number of times. You would have thought the DOT would clear debris such as leaves off the road before painting. I have noticed that it is hard to keep people from driving over the fresh paint which is something I have seen numerous times.
Thank you for all the information on this truck.
That number is state maintained highways only.
Oh ok, because the NYSDOT maintains the Interstates even though the Interstates are federally funded and I am not sure who pay whom. I assume the City of New York maintains their Interstates, but I could be wrong.
Was this Sterling an old Mack or White-GMC design? I swear I’ve seen that low nose with a different grille and sealed beam lights. Our neighborhood recycling trucks use this same type cab with dual controls.
Same here.
I want to say White-GMC but that’s just a guess. Memory is fuzzy on what brand it was.
M y recollection is that Sterling started as an independent in the 20s, got bought up by White in the 30s/40s and disappeared in the 50s. Then Freightliner revived the name in 97 or so when they bought up Ford’s Louisville an Cargo product lines, but dropped it a few years ago.
A quick Google tells us that it’s a Freightliner, probably via acquisition
http://www.freightlinertrucks.com/Trucks/Models/Legacy/Condor/
These never did sell well. Between the Mack MR, Peterbilt 320 and the Autocar the LCF market is pretty well saturated. The vast majority of this market niche is for refuse trucks with an oligopsony of few major solid waste fleet buyers (Waste Mgmt, Waste Connections etc). The majors are content to buy from PACCAR and Volvo while keeping Autocar and Crane Carrier Corp around.
International is trying to break into this segment with the Loadstar LCF, I’m not optimistic they will have much success. Their “house” engines have been problematic since 2010.
Slow_Joe you are correct on Sterling. There is a guy in the Bay Area ATHS chapter with a wonderful collection of 30s and 40s Sterlings. Most drivers disliked them as they were mostly no frills, fleet spec’. Freightliner used them as their discount brand. By the end of the line in 2009 they were pretty much a Freightliner with a different body style.
I believe this is a rebadge of an American Lafrance Condor. American Lafrance is more known for their fire trucks, but the Condor was an attempt to diversify. They were owned by Daimler Trucks via Freightliner beginning in 1995 these days, and back when Daimler was selling Sterlings they slapped the Sterling badge on any truck they didn’t develop in house, like the Ford Louisville and Aeromax trucks and some third generation Dodge Ram chassis cabs.
Really interesting article.
I never thought that much engineering went into striping the highways.
On the US 101-N, I always know I’m driving by…Woodman Ave. exit I believe, because there’s like 3 white lane markers lines by the left-most lane that are crooked.
For that reason and other shoddy jobs I’ve seen, I was under the impression the painting was sometimes hand done.
Thanks, Jason — I wouldn’t have known the first thing about this rig otherwise.
Wow, thanks for a great article. I always wondered how they do the striping, never seen it done up close. Well, now I know!
Seeing this truck reminds me of the scene in Vanishing Point when the truck painting the center line has to swerve out of the way of Kowalski & ends up painting a curved line heading towards the shoulder.
Worked for the Minnesota Dept of Transportation for 24 years. Snow plows, Tow plows, Stripers and lots of other weird stuff. I wish I had found this site earlier, I could have contributed with some weird and expensive equipment that we had.