How To Utilize Hanging Parking Permits In Your Lot

Parking lot security is important for schools, hospitals, government organizations and private businesses alike. And that makes parking permits important too.  

Parking permits help make your lot safer by tightening the reins on who is and isn’t allowed to use those parking spaces. And by registering for a parking permit, holders are agreeing to follow your policies.

It’s important to understand why parking permits matter, and just how you’re going to handle the process of instituting permit security and parking policies. Let’s take a look at different kinds of parking permits, their challenges, and reasons hanging permits might be the best way for you to keep your parking facilities secure.

Challenges of Traditional Parking Permits 

Traditional parking permits like static cling or sticker decals have been around for quite a while. We’ve all seen, or even had to use, stickers on car bumpers, rear windows or windshields. Private businesses, colleges, hospitals and government buildings are just some of the places you’ll find parking permits in use.

But while decal permits have been in use for quite a while, they’re not without their challenges:

• Hard-to-read font. Decals can’t be too large. They need to fit neatly on a car’s bumper or windshield, and if they’re meant to be put on the front windshield and not the rear then they can’t obstruct a driver’s vision. This size limitation makes fitting the information you need on your permit a challenge.

• Too small. As with font size, a decal that is too small to read isn’t an effective security measure for your building or business. But again, decals have to fit a certain space on a vehicle so your size options can be rather limited.

• Poor location on the car. Whether you require decals to be placed on the rear or front of registered vehicles, you can’t really dictate how those vehicles are parked. So anyone patrolling your parking area ends up sometimes having to circle a vehicle completely before they can find its permit.

• Difficult to distinguish. The rise of permit parking came – you guessed it – a whole lot of cars with a whole lot of stickers on their windshields. However, with more cars having tinted windows, it becomes twice as difficult to distinguish the permit through the tint. Which makes it easier for folks to slip by your security measures and park where they aren’t supposed to.

• Difficult to remove Adhesive decals stay where they’ve been stuck. And that’s a good thing, right? Sure – unless you get a new vehicle, or yours is in the shop and you have to use a loaner. Static cling decals, which can be removed and placed elsewhere, may seem like the solution to this, but these can lose their stick-to-it-ness and eventually fall off. 

The challenges of traditional parking permits have led to illegal parking and overcrowded garages full of cars who don’t actually belong there. For on-street parking the wave of the future is smart parking – sensors that collect real-time data on available parking spaces – and automated, self driving vehicles that park for you.

But for now? Businesses and organizations that want to provide secure parking lots and facilities still need to rely on more traditional parking security measures. Luckily, there’s something a little better than decals already out there.

Parking Stickers vs. Hang Tags

Parking stickers aren’t without some pros to go with the cons listed above. They’re made of durable material, making them tear- and weather-resistant. And once a decal is placed on a vehicle, it’s pretty much there forever. 

But tear- and weather-resistant doesn’t mean decals can’t become damaged to the point of illegibility over time. And not everyone wants a permanent decal on their vehicle telling people where they park or where they work. Depending on just how tight your security measures are, this may not be something you want to make public knowledge either. 

Enter the hanging parking permit.

Hung inside the vehicle, these are easy to access and use whenever permit owners drive onto your lot or into your parking facility. Larger than most decals, hanging tags are easy to customize and can improve your parking lot security’s efficiency with ease.

Let’s take a closer look at why hanging tags might be the superior choice for your parking security needs.

6 Ways to Improve Parking Permits with Hang Tags

The wide world of hanging permits opens up opportunities to both customize your tags and improve your security at the same time. Here are six ways to do just that. 

Like our logo? It certainly catches the eye. Adding your logo to hang tags does that too, making permits quick and easy to identify, even from a relative distance. A bright bold graphic label stands out, allowing your security personnel to check vehicles entering or already parked easier and faster. 

2. Centralized placement

Hang tags are displayed on a vehicle’s rear view mirror, every time. Prominently displayed in the middle of each vehicle, hang tags are easy to spot no matter which direction the vehicle is facing when parked. Consider printing the second side so parking attendants can easily see if it’s the right permit. 

3. Larger Size 

Hanging tags don’t have to be huge, but they can be quite larger than decals. You don’t have to worry about obstructing drivers’ views because hanging tags are easy to pop on and off as needed, and are not a permanent fixture. This larger size affords you more room to include information necessary to your security team. 

4. Utilize Number Systems 

Number systems keep track of all parking permits issued for your parking lot or facility. You can use registration numbers to assign numbered parking lots, and make parking violations much easier to issue to specific vehicle owners. 

5. Expiration Dates 

With the larger amount of space hanging tags offer, you have plenty of room to note both permit registration numbers and their expiration dates. And permits should expire on a regular basis. Consider issuing new permits every year to keep old permits from being passed around or otherwise misused. 

6. Color Coding 

Instituting color coding into your parking lot or structure lets you create different zones, such as areas for visitors separate from areas for employees. Coordinating these parking zones with color-coded hanging tags makes spotting vehicles in the wrong zone a breeze. And don’t worry about extra cost because many printing companies offer bulk order discounts when you order multiple designs of the same item at the same time. 

Design Quality Hang Tags with Stomp 

Businesses, schools, hospitals, government groups and other organizations all need to keep their parking areas safe and secure. Doing so doesn’t have to be difficult. Parking security is easier than ever when you use custom designed hang tags. 

Whether you’re upgrading your old decal-based security or creating a parking permit system from scratch, you can create and design the highest quality hanging tags easily with Stomp. We’ve got popular design styles printed on durable, long lasting material. Contact our printing experts and start customizing today.

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