ForConstructionPros.com

If you could double the productivity of your striping crew, cut your labor costs, and increase job profits, would you do it?

Well, what are you waiting for?

Manufacturers say if you equip your walk-behind striper with a tractor that enables you to drive around the parking lot doing everything from layout to striping you will see productivity gains you have only dreamed about.

Possibly the biggest innovation in the striping industry since the airless machine, these "driver" add-ons (and a new self-contained machine) might take a little getting used to, but manufacturers say once you and your crew use them, you'll wonder how you survived so long without them. So whichever approach you select, select one of them because contractors and manufacturers alike say motorizing your walk-behind striping machine is the single biggest impact you can make on your striping productivity.

"They simply allow you to go a lot faster on the job," says Mark Malloy of Airlessco, which markets the Ride & Stripe option for its walk-behind line. "Contractors tell us they experience somewhere between 33% and 40% more productivity when using the Ride & Stripe, especially late in the day when workers are tired."

And that improvement estimate is on the low end of the spectrum.

Analyzing the job
Introduced to a skeptical industry by Fine Line Industries in 1996, the LazyLiner was the first driver introduced to propel a walk-behind striper. It was followed soon after by Graco's LineDriver. Fine Line Industries' Bill Neuling says they proved the need for a propelled striper to themselves when they analyzed videotapes of their crew at work on several large parking lot striping jobs.