Bristol Graphics and Printing, or BGP, is open for U-Haul business. The new facility is 22 miles northeast of Philadelphia. It will satisfy and expand upon the operations previously handled at Kar-Go Decal.
BGP is in a 55,000-square-foot plant at 2669 Durham Road and will incorporate a series of updated printing technologies. U-Haul has been making its own decals for the sides of its iconic trucks and trailers since 1964.
AMERCO, parent company of U-Haul, acquired the 30.7-acre site on Durham Road near the Pennsylvania Turnpike in January 2016. The west side of the building encompasses BGP. The east side is U-Haul Moving & Storage of Bristol. The facility is part of the Bristol Shopping Center. The Kar-Go Decal facility, which closed Feb. 10, is 15 miles away at 96 Louise Drive in Warminster.
Adaptive Reuse
Bristol Graphics and Printing facility in Pennsylvania
“After Pathmark grocery left in October 2010, this property sat vacant for years,” says BGP president George Palovcak, formerly president of Kar-Go Decal. “We are happy to bring life back to the building, especially since we were outgrowing our last facility. Our U-Haul fleet has expanded tremendously, and we are turning around more trucks and trailers every year that require decals.”
BGP printing operations began on Valentine’s Day. There will be approximately 60 Team Members at BGP, the same number previously employed at Kar-Go Decal. Numbers will increase during peak seasons. Visit jobs.uhaul.com to find career opportunities at BGP and other U-Haul-owned and -operated facilities.
New Technology
BGP has more than twice the space of Kar-Go Decal, but the larger benefits come from new technology. Two Durst Superwide (16 feet printing width) roll-to-roll printers serve as the high-resolution showpieces of a computerized system that provides superior quality while expediting the process. The fully automated digital equipment increases efficiency and eliminates the need for outsourcing.
“We had become restricted at the previous space,” Palovcak says. “U-Haul imaging needs have grown exponentially. We need to be able to print to order so the field can get its imaging requests as fast as possible. We’re very excited to open this new plant and be part of the Bristol community.”
Check out the latest U-Haul manufacturing plant, which opened last October in Glendale, Ariz.
