Multiple companies have joined together in a public installation of eco-friendly advertising on a semi-truck. The event called attention to five Chattanooga-area start-ups that are focused on improving sustainable practices in order to better protect the environment.
Carbon offset provider Greene Skirts teamed with national moving service Bellhops for a promotional campaign that utilizes the nation’s highways as a messaging channel while saving a truck driver money on fuel costs and reducing the vehicle’s carbon footprint.
Bellhops, founded in 2011, operates in over 80 US cities, employing college students for moving and lifting services to communities within a 15-mile radius of campuses. With a wide presence across a large region, it made sense to use Greene Skirts eye-level advertisements on truck semi trailer skirts, said officials. Greene Skirts finds companies that want to make an environmental impact by asking them to Adopt-a-Truck. They then place the adoptive company's messaging on the adopted equipment as free, eye-level messaging to passenger cars.
“We are partnering with Greene Skirts on a collaborative marketing campaign,” said Bellhops Co-Founder Cameron Doody, who was present as the installation of the skirts happened on Nov. 14.
Greene Skirts offered the environmentally sound ad solution to Bellhops for promoting its services and building brand recognition. The skirts offer truck drivers better gas mileage by improving efficiency. This is achieved because the side skirts reduce aerodynamic drag caused by air turbulence, plus the skirts improve visibility for other motorists and truck drivers report improved stability in crosswinds, said officials.
“We connect companies that want to do something for the environment,” said Greene Skirts CEO Dena Greene Jackson. “We shoot for independent truck drivers and ask companies if they want to adopt a truck. Usually it is a company wanting to do something socially forward. We offered to put Bellhops advertising on truck skirts. It will be seen as the truck moves through Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, and so on.”
The companies recently gathered to perform an installation of the skirt advertisements in the parking lot of Tennessee Solar Solutions, another Chattanooga company that helps homes and businesses become energy independent by designing, installing and maintaining solar powered systems.
Before the truck began its run as a moving billboard for Bellhops, it received a thorough cleaning by DetailXPerts of Greater Chattanooga, using 90 percent organic chemicals and a small fraction of the water that would typically be used in the cleaning process. Dave Graham, franchise owner/operator, described his company as an eco-friendly mobile wash business targeting commercial freight customers.
“Chattanooga is a hub for the transportation and trucking industry,” Mr. Graham said. “We used our patented steam cleaning technology to wash the tractor interior and exterior. Our DetailXPerts product is very efficient, does not harm the paint finish and uses very little water. On the trailer, we used our continuous flow high-pressure wash system. We can wash a trailer like this with just over five gallons of water, whereas it would typically take 150 to 200 gallons of water. We are a green business, and I am very interested in growing it here in Chattanooga.”
The same truck also utilizes Eco-Flaps, another Chattanooga-made product with a patented grid design nylon splash guard that saves truck operators money by further improving fuel efficiency, said officials. The product has been demonstrated to save approximately 700 gallons of the 20,000 gallons a truck will use annually, saving roughly $2,800 per year and reducing fuel emissions.
The combined efforts of these companies are just a natural result of Chattanooga’s nature as a transportation hub and the push for environmentally sustainable business practices, according to Ms. Jackson. “Chattanooga is freight central, USA,” Ms. Jackson said. “This city fosters an environment for startups. Chattanooga once had a reputation for being the dirtiest city in America, but we’ve really turned that around. Chattanooga is a very green city now.”
To learn more about these companies, visit:
http://www.greeneskirts.com/
http://www.getbellhops.com/
http://www.tennesseesolarsolutions.com/
http://www.chattanooga.detailxperts.net/
http://www.ecoflaps.com/