Here at Brandon Industries, we’re proud to provide a full line of tough, attractive custom mailboxes and decorative mailboxes. But now you can add a layer of security to your mailbox with our two new locking mailboxes.

1. The Defender Locking Mailbox – the name speaks for itself. The massive size of this mailbox is perfect for any business wanting to protect large amounts of mail and packages.
2. The Reliant Locking Mailbox – sleek design blends beautifully in any neighborhood. No one will notice the locking mechanism hidden behind the mailbox door except you, your postmaster, and anyone trying to swipe mail out of your mailbox.

Because here’s the thing — it’s virtually impossible to know whether or not mail is getting taken out of your mailbox. Most households get bundles of mail each day. Some of it is junk, but you could probably make a pretty big pile out of all the bills, checks, letters, notices, postcards, small packages, and other important pieces of mail you get each month as well.

Sure, if you’re expecting something like a paycheck or package you’ll eventually notice if it does not arrive — but at what cost? And how likely are you to really notice if something equally private or sensitive that you weren’t expecting gets swiped?

Consider what could be lost without a locking mailbox:

• If your paycheck or another source of income normally arrives by mail, can you afford to wait the extra month or two it might take to get a replacement for the one that was stolen?
• What kind of headache are you willing to put up with while your gas gets cut-off due to non-payment on a monthly utilities bill you never received?
• How willing are you to risk a serious dent in your credit score for non-payment on another bill you never received?
• How many documents arrive in your mailbox each month containing sensitive, personal information that could be used in an identity theft?
• How many irreplaceable items like personal letters or post cards from friends and loved ones do you receive? You can’t put a price on that sort of thing.

If you’re interested in adding the extra security to your mail arriving at your home or business take a look at the multiple models of locking mailboxes we provide.

Buying bulk unpainted streetscape products from us makes for a simplified and fast way to easily get the quality products you need at a great price before customizing them as you see fit for your branding needs and specific local regulations.

Here are three of the many advantages of purchasing unpainted products in bulk:

1. One phone call. Ready to ship.

Here at Brandon Industries, we’ve got more than 30,000 square feet of unpainted inventory that is in stock and ready to ship, providing you with the fastest lead time in the industry. With one simple phone call, a direct sale can be made with a living, breathing streetscape expert who can answer any of your questions and get you the exact bulk order you need. The simplicity and ease of the order and shipping process is unparallelled. Orders will ship to your site or a powder coater of your choosing.

2. Maximum Savings

Per-skid pricing of unpainted streetscape products will maximize your savings. Get exactly what you need for a specific project or to enhance your inventory.

3. Unpainted Streetscape Products = Flexible Customization

In addition to the cost advantage of purchasing quality unpainted streetscape products in bulk, the lack of paint provides the full freedom you need to customize the products however you see fit, according to your branding goals and local codes and regulations. You’ll have unlimited options for the powder coater of your choosing, or for your own paint finish.

All of Brandon Industries’ quality bulk unpainted streetscape products, such as sign pole bases, street sign finials, street sign poles and street sign trims, offer the advantages of simple order and shipping, maximum savings, and flexible customization, among their other advantages.

From our headquarters in McKinney, Texas, just 30 miles north of Downtown Dallas, we’re proud to provide a comprehensive catalog of top-quality street signs, including:

• Custom Logo Signs
• Custom-Shape Aluminum Signs
• Wayfinding Signs
• HDPE & ACP Signs
• Street Signs
• Radar Signs

A few weeks ago, we provided some basic instructions for how to install a sign post. Today, let’s finish the job and go step by step through how to attach signs, trims and brackets to posts. Let’s take a look:

How you attach sign to the pole depends, of course, on the pole you’ve installed:

Fluted Pole Installations and Smooth Pole Installations

Both smooth poles (like our smooth round poles and our smooth square poles) and our fluted poles come without pre-drilled holes, so you’ll need to drill holes yourself in order to mount trims, brackets and the actual signs. Measure carefully before drilling to determine the clearance height of the lowest sign. Make sure that the sign height you measure will conform to city and neighborhood restrictions. Use a level to verify that the drilled hole will be perpendicular to the post, or measure carefully and drill from opposite sides to ensure proper alignment. Then it’s a simple matter of using the screws to fasten the sign to the post.

Channel Pole Installations

Our proprietary channel poles, on the other hand, do not require drilling in order to attach signs. Instead, the signs are attached to the channel. You simply slide the nut or bolt into the channel, tighten, and call it a day. It’s that simple.

Note: Sign blades and sign trims also need to be assembled, but here too installation is incredibly easy. You simply slide the double-sided street sign into the trim, and use a set screw to hold it in place.

Our sign posts are tough, reliable, and durable — but only, of course, if they’re installed correctly. Thankfully, with a little bit of know-how, erecting one of our street sign poles is pretty simple.

Two important notes to remember before you start:

1. Contact Local Authorities!

Before you even place your order, go ahead and contact your local authorities first to make sure the post will comply with all local ordinances, codes, and regulations. Codes change from community to community, and factors you might not have thought about could be a problem, including requirements about clearance heights, sign dimensions, and vinyl types. Here at Brandon Industries, we have a flexible, friendly customer service policy, but it’ll save you both time and money to make sure the sign post you’re installing is legal before you start digging.

2. Don’t Get Hurt!

Buried gas lines and power lines abound along streets and sidewalks, especially in newer neighborhood developments. So before you break ground, be sure to contact the local utility companies first. They’ll tell you where to dig, and what to avoid. Dig carefully.

Now let’s begin:

1. Dig a hole. How wide and deep the hole needs to be depends local codes and soil conditions.

2. Insert the pole.  It’s important to make sure that the pole’s channels or holes are properly aligned with the street (in other words, make sure the the street sign will be facing the correct direction, perfectly perpendicular to the street).

3. Level the pole carefully, and brace it into place.

4. Create a form for the cement footing. You want to make sure the footing will be slightly above the grade of the ground, in order to protect the pole’s finish from soil and lawn equipment.

5. Carefully fill the hole with cement or concrete.

6. Recheck with a level before the cement fully dries. Adjust if needed.

7. Give the concrete some time to cure before installing signs or other components. You might need to drill some holes to install the signs, which could throw the pole out of balance again or crack the concrete.

These instructions are valid for the vast majority of the sign poles we offer, including four-inch channel poles,  four-inch fluted round poles, three-inch fluted round poles, and four-inch smooth square poles. But if you have questions, go ahead and give one of our sign pole specialists a call for more information.

Wired Magazine tells the story of a community in California that was having a difficult time getting drivers to slow down in school zones. Even increased police enforcement had only a limited effect. But after installing a series of radar feedback signs, drivers slowed down by an average of 14 percent.

According to Wired:

“The signs were curious in a few ways. For one thing, they didn’t tell drivers anything they didn’t already know—there is, after all, a speedometer in every car. If a motorist wanted to know their speed, a glance at the dashboard would do it. For another thing, the signs used radar, which decades earlier had appeared on American roads as a talisman technology, reserved for police officers only. Now Garden Grove had scattered radar sensors along the side of the road like traffic cones. And the Your Speed signs came with no punitive follow-up—no police officer standing by ready to write a ticket. This defied decades of law-enforcement dogma, which held that most people obey speed limits only if they face some clear negative consequence for exceeding them.”

The key was what scientists call a “feedback loop.”

Basically, if you equip people with information about their actions in real-time, they’ll improve their behavior. Tell drivers that they’re speeding, and they’ll usually slow down. For another example — tell drivers that they’re using too much gasoline (via, say, the consumption display in a Toyota Prius), and they’ll actively try to improve their efficiency.

And they work. Again, according to Wired:

“So feedback loops work. Why? Why does putting our own data in front of us somehow compel us to act? In part, it’s that feedback taps into something core to the human experience, even to our biological origins. Like any organism, humans are self-regulating creatures, with a multitude of systems working to achieve homeostasis. Evolution itself, after all, is a feedback loop, albeit one so elongated as to be imperceptible by an individual. Feedback loops are how we learn, whether we call it trial and error or course correction. In so many areas of life, we succeed when we have some sense of where we stand and some evaluation of our progress. Indeed, we tend to crave this sort of information; it’s something we viscerally want to know, good or bad. As Stanford’s Bandura put it, “People are proactive, aspiring organisms.” Feedback taps into those aspirations.”

Here at Brandon Industries, we offer a full line of driver feedback signs that can effectively slow down drivers and make your community’s streets a safer place for families. But the feedback loop principle applies partially to more than just radar feedback signs — even without real-time feedback, any of the street signage systems your community, school, or business park uses to transmit important information can be more effective through careful, repetitious installation.

For example, colorful custom logo signs and custom aluminum signs that display your community’s logo transmit “real-time” information about where the driver is — and remind them that these streets are where kids and families could be playing.

The feedback loop principle just proves how important strategic streetscape planning is for safety in your neighborhood. We’re eager to help neighborhoods build effective, safety-boosting streetscapes.

What are they?

Basically, breakaway poles are specifically engineered to break when struck by a vehicle. This design is helpful in high-speed environments, where an unyielding sign post could make a off-road traffic accident significantly worse. The cost of a sign, of course, will never outweigh the cost of a human life.

In fact, instead of being a potentially deadly roadside hazard, breakaway poles can actually act as a sort of crash cushion. In the event of a crash, the breakaway poles absorbing most of the impact energy (instead of returning it to the vehicle), while still slowing down the runaway vehicle. It’s an excellent way to boost safety in your city, neighborhood, or commercial development.

Where on the road can you find breakaway design?

In general, you can find breakaway technology in a diverse range of roadside devices, including traffic signs, mailboxes, traffic signals, light posts, call boxes, utility poles, and more.

Here at Brandon Industries, we offer a large inventory of Federal Highway Administration-approved breakaway engineering with our sign poles, including our 3″ OD fluted sign pole, and 4″ OD fluted sign pole. These sign poles are ideal for stop signs, speed limit signs, and other custom road signs.

Does this undermine durability and strength?

Nope. They’re strong, durable, long-lasting, and constructed from premium materials, just like all of our sign poles.

Are breakaway poles ever legally required?

Breakaway requirements vary from city to city and state to state, depending on the type of road or highway—both the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Texas Department of Transportation (TXDoT) have slightly different recommendations and requirements—so it can get to be a little bit confusing. If you have questions about where breakaway poles are required in your community, contact one of our Dallas signage professionals for help. We’ll get you what your community needs.

New sign pole option. New sharp look for your neighborhood’s streetscapes. Same Brandon Industries standard of toughness, long-lasting construction, and style.

Our new 4-inch smooth square sign poles give streetscape customers yet another series of stately, attractive options for their neighborhood, business park, and shopping center signage needs.

Let’s take a look:

The poles can be accented with a diverse range of bases and finials. And, of course, the poles can be outfitted with just about every street sign imaginable, including stop signs, speed limit signs and reserved parking signs.  The new poles only enhance our already unmatched line of signage systems, which includes custom logo signs, wayfinding signs, and custom aluminum signs.

For example, check out our 4-inch square 1 model stop sign posts, featuring stylish bases, finials, and sign brackets durably constructed from cast aluminum. Or, check out our 4-inch square 6 model speed limit signs, which also boasts a combination of rugged construction and smart stylizing.

Here’s the bottom line: The right streetscape products can add elements of class and style to your community’s streets, without sacrificing industrial-strength reliability and craftsmanship. Our new square poles can both boost neighborhood home values and save long-term costs through superior construction and design.

Contact our street sign experts for more information, or check out our complete line of signposts and poles, including 3-inch fluted round poles and 4-inch fluted round poles.

When it comes to planned communities, the difference between those that bloom and those that just sort of blend into obscurity is in the details: Inviting parks. Safe streets. Excellent schools. A cohesive, community oriented vibe and spirit.

Here at Brandon Industries, we take the same approach, and believe our carefully constructed, intricately designed streetscape products can provide communities with the high-quality “details” needed to thrive.

Take a look at our line of outdoor street lamps. They’re tough, durable, and constructed from high-quality materials like cast-aluminum parts with a polyester powder coat finish, and — like community lighthouses — will keep your community safe and illuminated in even the most blinding storms. But they’re also stately, elegant, and attractive, and full of little details that demonstrate a commitment to excellence. For example, several models of our line of commercial luminaires feature sophisticated gold oval bands. Our line of stately courtyard lamps feature intricate details like bevel glass lenses. And our comprehensive catalog of commercial streetlamp posts include more than six models of posts, each carefully crafted to anchor your community’s outdoor lighting system with class.

Similarly, we’re proud to offer a diverse range of decorative mailboxes that are built from cast-aluminum, blend traditional casting methods with today’s technology, and are eager to be the first thing many folks notice about your home. But they’re also stylish and evoke nostalgic feelings of yesteryear. In fact, cohesively themed mailboxes are a great way for your neighborhood to demonstrate community solidarity.

Our custom signage systems are also exactly the sort of details that stand out to visitors and residents alike. Acting almost as “the handshake” of your neighborhood, these long-lasting signs both provide the details — driving directions, community information, etc. — that make visitors feel at home, and look impressive and classy while doing so.

For first-time visitors, an ornamental wayfinding sign is the handshake from your neighborhood. Attractive, stately, and durable, they welcome visitors with a spirit of helpfulness and warmth. They boast about the great things your community has to offer (Pool! Clubhouse! School! Golf! Parks!). They demonstrate a commitment to detail, cohesiveness, and class. And they help drivers get where they’re going more efficiently (which means safer, less congested streets for your kids).

Perhaps most importantly—now that the summer home-buying season is heating up and plenty of prospective home-buyers are dropping by—they help your neighborhood stand out from surrounding communities. A full palette of possible shapes and sizes are available. And we’ll work with you to find the right custom logo that fits the signs and successfully ties the neighborhood together with a common brand.

But beyond your neighborhood’s streets, our custom logo wayfinding signs can be useful for a host of other purposes, including:

• Navigating golf courses
• Keeping kids from getting lost on neighborhood trails and sidewalks
• Organizing parking at business centers and entertainment centers
• Cheerfully displaying rules, regulations, and community information
• Highlighting community perks (pools, community centers, tennis courts)
• Adding a sense of cohesiveness across the community

Similarly, in addition to wayfinding signs, the rest of our line of custom logo signs also come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes — each constructed from the highest quality of materials. These signs include:

• HDPE (high-density polyethylene) signs
• 18×24 ACP (aluminum composite panel) signs
• 22×30 ACP signs
• Custom aluminum street signs

In other words, we offer just about every type of streetscape sign your neighborhood could possibly need.

1. Easier for Emergency Responders

Emergency vehicle drivers are pros, and don’t need the assistance of speed bumps to do their jobs safely. Instead, according to the Institute of Transportation Engineers, speed humps and bumps unnecessarily slow down emergency responders like police and fire trucks three to five seconds per hump, and ambulances with a patient on board by nearly ten seconds per hump.

Imagine the consequences. In any situation where an emergency responder is needed, time is critical, and just a few extra seconds can lead to a crime that escalates, a fire that spreads, or health that deteriorates (not to mention the jarring effects on critical patients caused by bouncing around over speed bumps).

Driver feedback signs don’t impede such critical responders.

2.  More Flexibility

Need to address speeding in a different part of your neighborhood? Want something temporary to slow down drivers (around, say, weekend events or festivals)? Good luck digging up speed humps for short-term use.

Radar speed signs, on the other hand, can be easily moved as your community sees fit.

3. Less Distracting

While, yes, speed bumps slow down drivers, they don’t necessarily make streets safer, because speed bumps draw the focus of drivers onto them. Think about how you take on those pesky humps—you calculate the angle that will both cause the least amount of wear and tear on your car’s shocks, as well as require the least amount of speed reduction.

The focus, therefore, is on your car and on the humps—not, say, kids kicking a ball around across the street.

Feedback traffic signs, on the other hand, make drivers focus on safe driving itself. You’re zipping along blissfully unaware of your surroundings when you suddenly spot a flashing radar sign. You don’t stare at the sign— you start scanning the road and surroundings for cops (and therefore, schoolchildren and other pedestrians the driver feedback signs are meant to protect). Furthermore, radar detectors will often be triggered by radar signs, making those who are most likely to speed through your neighborhood the most likely drivers to slow down significantly when a feedback sign is nearby.

At Brandon Industries, we offer a full line of attractive, effective radar feedback signs, including solar-powered, battery-powered, and A/C-powered signs.