SG launches palletised VMS built without a trailer

by Kevin Borras

Solar safety and security specialists SG has launched the VMS-P: a palletised variable message sign that removes the trailer that has, until now, come as standard with every VMS unit.

VMS-P is delivered by pallet lifting trailer, forklift or hiab instead, mounted on a standard pallet format rather than a towable chassis. It is designed for use alongside SG’s SOSEC pallet-lifting trailer, allowing one trailer to deliver and reposition multiple signs across a single site or route. The standard ‘A size’ VMS is rated for speed zones up to 50mph, making it suited to inner-city and urban roadworks rather than only strategic road network deployments.

“A VMS has come on a trailer for decades, simply because that’s how it had always been done, not because it needed one,” said Anna Blake, Commercial Director, SG. “Taking the trailer away isn’t just a neater way to deploy a sign – it removes a whole category of maintenance and security risk that was never really necessary in the first place. That’s the standard we think urban roadworks signage should be held to now.”

VMS-P draws on technology developed by BartCo, the variable message sign manufacturer united with SG under the Torquay Group of companies. The two businesses have worked together on the unit’s development, bringing BartCo’s signage engineering together with SG’s approach to deployment and site security in the UK and Ireland.

VMS-P carries the same full-colour LED matrix display as a standard VMS – amber, red, green, blue and white, with full graphics and pictogram support – behind a non-glare, UV-resistant polycarbonate screen. With no wheels, no brakes, no lightboard or hitch, the risk of theft is all but eliminated vs. a conventional trailer-mounted sign; GPS tracking and padlock covers adds a further layer of security. VMS fleet owners can now manage a smaller number of pallet lifting trailers for their signage fleet and massively cut the maintenance and downtime costs. Messages are set and managed remotely by Windows, Android or iOS app – without a site visit, and run indefinitely under recommended conditions from the onboard solar panels.

VMS-P is available now for hire or purchase, and will be on display at Highways UK, the NEC, 14–15 October. Full product details and technical specification are available HERE.