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The Importance of Belt Barrier Length
One of the key differences between brands of Retractable Belt Stanchions is the length of the belt. In the US market standard belt lengths range from 6’ to 11’ but why does this matter? Put simply the longer the belt the fewer barriers you need to create a given size of queue system. Fewer barriers mean lower purchase cost with less set up time and reduced ongoing maintenance costs.
For example in order to create a queue system with a 70 person limit using stanchions with a 7.5’ belt would take about 30 posts. The same size queue with 16’ belts would only take about 17 posts or almost half the number.
This effect is even more noticeable when stanchions are used to create safety barriers. Safety barriers are typically used in long, straight runs unlike queuing applications where the turns in a queuing corral mean some stanchions cannot have their belts fully extended.
Safety Retractable Belt Stanchions can utilize very long belt lengths, such as the 35’ belt in our WeatherMaster 335 and SafetyPro 335 models. The 35’ belt in these stanchions covers the same distance as four 7.5’ belts! The efficiency in terms of set up time and the amount of storage needed when the stanchions are not in use is very significant.
When making a stanchion purchase always factor in the Retractable Belt Stanchions belt length of the brands you are considering.
To do this simply divide the price by the belt length to give the price per foot of belt. For example, a $120.00 stanchion with a 7.5’ belt costs $16.00 per foot of barrier but a $120.00 stanchion with an 11’ belt only costs $10.91 per ft. which is a 32% saving!
Queue Solutions has long recognized the importance of belt length in proving value to our customers. Our QueuePro and QueueMaster ranges feature a standard 11’ belt, the longest in the industry. We also have the most stanchion models with extra length belts including 13’, 16’, 35’ options.
Other Advantages of our Products:
Lowering Trip Hazards
We often recommend locations with heavy and constant foot traffic choose our premium lines of retractable belt barriers over the cheaper economy stanchions. Although a bit more pricey the premium Pro series of stanchions offers several big advantages over their cheaper counterparts.
Our premium stanchions are built to last for the long term, made from heavy duty thick steel these posts can stand up to daily use without breaking a sweat. Designed to be used in areas with heavy foot traffic made choosing a base that didn’t get in the way extremely important, which is why we designed our low profile base option.
Our slim and sleek low profile base is the ideal choice for limiting the liability of a trip hazard, being very thin and sleek put this base in sharp contrast when compared to other thicker base options which can pose a much great risk of someone tripping or stumbling over it.
The Largest Range of Finish Options, Both Standard and Custom.
We have always prided ourselves on offering more bang for your buck in terms of service and options when compared to our competitors. This is why we go out of our way to offer a truly massive selection of standard and custom finish options with fast turn around times. You can select from any of our finish options and be sure that you will receive a high-quality premium finish every time guaranteed
We stand behind our work and take providing our customers with the highest possible level of service very seriously, that is why we strive to ship standard orders on the day they are placed while maintaining reasonable and speedy lead times on custom order or requests.
Huge Selection of Belt types and colors.
Our belts are offered in both 3″ and 2″ variants, the main difference being the amount of space available for printing on the surface of the belts themselves. On the Xtra series which is the 3″ variant, we can offer significantly larger print sizes due to the larger vertical height of the belts themselves. This allows for a significant increase in the visibility of things like a printed warning and advisory messages as well as branding or marketing opportunities such as logo printing or slogans. Although the Xtra belt is limited slightly in how long we can make it (cannot exceed 11 feet) it more than makes up for this downside with a much more visible large print area.
Our 2″ standard belt, in contrast, has a much smaller print area that is less suited for viewing from a distance. Although this is a minor drawback that is easily compensated for by the sheer lengths possible with this belt form factor and that is it available standard on all of our retractable belt stanchions. With lengths reaching 30 feet we can drastically cut down on the amount of needed retractable belt stanchions to form a queue. When you decrease the number of retractable belt stanchions you significantly cut the cost of setting up a queue line.
References:
Safety Signage Wiki
OSHA Website
General Information Wiki
OSHA Fact Sheet
Nation Retail Federation