Vehicle graphics, wraps a growing business in Tri-Cities

Ethan Sanders carefully measured the driver’s side door – from bottom to top, side to side.

He was applying a vinyl graphic to the white Ford pickup truck, and it needed to be centered, leave space for the door handle and be perfectly flat.

It was a warm day, so the vinyl was a bit “persnickety,” in Sanders’ words. But he’s a pro who was more than up to the task.

As a production specialist at FastSigns in Kennewick, Sanders regularly is called upon to apply vehicle graphics and even partial or full vehicle wraps.

Those kinds of jobs make up about 15% to 20% of the company’s business.

FastSigns, which is owned by Ethan’s parents, Brad and Yvette Sanders, is one of several Tri-Cities companies offering vehicle graphics and wraps – a growing part of the auto industry. One report estimated the vehicle wrap market would see a compound annual growth rate of 22.1% between 2024-30.

When it comes to graphics and wraps, Tri-Cities area businesses typically see two categories of requests: color changes or other work on personal vehicles, and commercial or fleet work – anything from logos on company cars to wraps on food trucks.

Ethan Sanders’ project at FastSigns fell into the latter category. He was applying logos and other business information on a pair of trucks for TLM One, Inc., which specializes in building retail fueling infrastructure such as gas stations, convenience stores and EV charging stations. The company has an office in Kennewick.

Like FastSigns, Mustang Signs in Kennewick also offers vehicle wraps and vinyl applications. Lauran Wang, president, estimated they make up about 30% of the company’s business.

“We exist to make it really easy for businesses to look awesome,” she said. “It’s easy for people to put their name up on a building, a car. But we really work with the business owner and talk about branding and goals. The idea is to help them grow their business by looking professional.”

FastSigns also helps companies craft the design and look of their vehicle graphics and wraps. They know what will fit and what will read and look best, Brad Sanders said.

Labor often is the biggest expense in graphic applications and wraps, and “we’ll work with them on coming up with a strategy on how to apply the vehicle graphics to get the message across but not drive up the cost because of labor,” he said.

His company has taken on vehicle projects big and small over the years, from graphics for local law enforcement and fire agencies to work on mini-hydroplanes and food trucks.

Ethan Sanders, left, and Jonas Sanders, right, apply a vinyl graphic to a commercial vehicle at FastSigns in Kennewick.

| Photo by Sara Schilling

Some take a couple of hours; others take days, depending on the size of the job and the intricacies of the design and application, Brad Sanders said.

Ethan Sanders’ work on the TLM One trucks took a few hours on a recent day.

He removed some lettering and adhesive from the doors, cleaned the surface, then used magnets, measuring tape and a grease pencil to position the graphics just right.

The finished product was crisp and sleek; Ethan Sanders seemed happy with how it turned out.

He doesn’t exclusively work on vehicles; he gets his hands on a variety of projects at FastSigns. But he said he enjoys the vehicle work. He’s even put vinyl graphics on his own car – a pair of Bible verses that are personally meaningful.

He said he likes working with his hands, and “production is a good job for me. You get to make some really cool stuff.”