ANSI 107 Class 2 vs Class 3: What Las Vegas Road, Utility, and Night-Shift Crews Actually Need

ANSI 107 is the American National Standard for High-Visibility Safety Apparel, and it's the standard your hi-vis crew gear is measured against on Nevada DOT projects, federal highway zones, and any project where vehicle traffic is the primary hazard. Most contractors think of hi-vis as binary — "lime-yellow vest, you're good" — but the standard actually defines three performance classes plus a supplemental class for pants, and getting it wrong on a project inspection can shut a crew down.

Bighorn Threads supplies and decorates ANSI 107 hi-vis for road contractors, NDOT subs, paving crews, traffic control, utility line workers, signal techs, and night-shift utility ties. We carry ML Kishigo, Bulwark, Radians, OccuNomix, and Tingley — the brands that actually meet ANSI 107 spec when they start and stay compliant after decoration. Here's the practical breakdown of which class you need, when.

Class 2: The Default for Daytime Work

Class 2 is the workhorse classification — daytime work near traffic moving up to 50 mph. The standard requires a minimum of 775 sq inches of background fluorescent fabric (lime-yellow or orange-red) and 201 sq inches of retroreflective tape. Most Class 2 garments are vests, short-sleeve shirts, or polos with two horizontal tape strips around the torso and two vertical strips over the shoulders.

Class 2 is the right spec for parking lot work, daytime road maintenance under 50 mph, daytime utility ties, signal flagging in moderate traffic, and most commercial construction sites where vehicle traffic is present but speeds are managed. The most-ordered Class 2 SKUs in our shop are the ML Kishigo 9100 series mesh-back tee, the 1191/1193 Premium Black Series polo, and the Radians ST21 mesh tee for crews working in 110° Vegas summer where ventilation matters.

Class 3: Required for Highway Speeds and Night Work

Class 3 is the higher-visibility classification — required for work near traffic over 50 mph, low-visibility conditions, and most night-shift highway and utility work. The standard requires 1,240 sq inches of background fabric, 310 sq inches of retroreflective tape, and full sleeve coverage with retroreflective tape encircling the upper and lower arm. The garment has to be a long-sleeve shirt, jacket, or coverall — short-sleeve and vest-only configurations don't qualify.

Class 3 is the right spec for highway construction over 50 mph, night-shift road maintenance, utility line work in low-visibility conditions, NDOT detour and emergency response, and any project where the prime contractor's safety plan calls for Class 3 sitewide. The most-ordered Class 3 SKUs are the ML Kishigo 1565 long-sleeve performance tee, the 2024 Class 3 contrast color block jacket, and the Bulwark JLR8 hi-vis lined bomber for crews that need both Class 3 visibility and NFPA 2112 flame-resistance.

Class E: Hi-Vis Pants

Class E is the supplemental classification for high-visibility pants and shorts — required as part of the ensemble for federal highway work zones (per the MUTCD) and many utility-contractor safety programs. When Class E pants are worn with a Class 2 vest, the combined ensemble is rated as Class 3 for the worker. This is the cheapest path to Class 3 compliance for crews that don't want to commit to long-sleeve hi-vis shirts in Vegas summer heat — Class 2 mesh tee on top, Class E hi-vis pants on the bottom, and you've got a compliant Class 3 ensemble that breathes.

Decoration That Stays Compliant

ANSI 107 has explicit decoration rules. Embroidery, screen-print, and heat-transfer decoration cannot reduce the minimum background fabric area or cover/interrupt the retroreflective tape coverage required for the class. In practice, this means decoration is restricted to specific zones — the chest panel between tape strips, the back yoke, and the upper sleeve. Oversized full-back logos, decoration that crosses tape strips, or decoration that exceeds the published area limits voids the rating.

We follow the published Kishigo and Radians decoration guides on every order, place embroidery and screen-print decoration in compliant zones, and document the compliance review on the certification sheet that ships with every batch. Most catalog suppliers skip this — they'll happily decorate a hi-vis vest in a way that voids the Class 2 rating, and you find out at inspection. Our decoration certification sheet goes in your safety binder so an inspector can see the placement was reviewed.

Quick Reference Spec

• Daytime work, traffic under 50 mph: Class 2 vest, polo, or short-sleeve mesh tee.
• Daytime work, traffic over 50 mph: Class 3 long-sleeve tee or jacket.
• Night work, any speed: Class 3 long-sleeve or Class 2 + Class E pants combined.
• Federal highway work zones: Class 3 ensemble (per MUTCD).
• Vegas summer daytime: Class 2 mesh-back tee + Class E pants for breathability.
• Electrical work near traffic: Class 3 hi-vis FR (Bulwark JLR8) for combined ANSI 107 + NFPA 2112.

For deeper coverage on hi-vis selection and Nevada-specific compliance, see our ANSI 107 hi-vis selection guide and the Nevada OSHA heat rules 2026 post for how the new heat standard affects hi-vis fabric selection in Vegas summer.