Skip-Line

Skip-Line is the leading manufacturer of electronic controls for long-line (large) road-marking vehicles in North America. Our founder, Vic Shinsel, designed the first electronic controller for road marking in 1969 after witnessing the La Grande, Oregon Department of Transportation road-marking crew attempting to mechanically change a skipping pattern. A crewmember was under the vehicle and using hand tools to adjust a cam and pulley system in an attempt to alter the length of the skip and the cycle. Vic, an inventor by hobby, asked the crew if they would like a switch box with dials to alter the pattern and turn on the guns. The crew was ecstatic. Once other ODOT crews heard about this “skip timer” invention, they begged Shinsel to make more. Washington and Idaho requested the product, and Shinsel soon realized the potential of the device. Skip-Line was incorporated in 1976, and the first employees began production in Shinsel’s basement