Topic

Logistics

Shipping, drayage, install & dismantle and show services: how I keep them on schedule and off the re-bill.

Logistics is the part of a trade show nobody sees when it goes right. Your booth shows up, the crates go into storage, the power is on and the freight goes home on time. When it goes wrong, you find out in the aisle or on a bill that comes after the show. Most of it comes down to reading the exhibitor manual early and hitting the dates in it.

Start with the basics

Shipping, material handling (drayage), targeted move-in and forced freight work about the same way in most buildings. I put those basics in one place in Exhibitor logistics 101, including when to use the advance warehouse instead of shipping direct and how material handling is billed and kept down. It also covers what happens if your carrier misses its window at move-out.

Then check the building

Some rules change from venue to venue, like who can set up your booth and what you can carry in yourself. How trucks check in at the docks differs too. My convention center guides cover those differences for Chicago, Orlando, Las Vegas, St. Louis, Atlanta, Dallas, New York City, San Diego and Nashville.

Put the deadlines on the calendar

Freight windows come with a penalty instead of a discount. Miss the warehouse deadline or your target move-in time and the extra charges start. Labor scheduled on overtime costs a lot more than the same work on straight time, so build your move-in plan around the straight-time hours in your manual. My guide to the exhibitor manual deadlines that save the most walks through which forms and dates to put on the calendar first.

Ship less

Fewer, heavier shipments, crated or palletized, usually cost less to handle than a pile of loose boxes. Custom modular exhibits pack into fewer and smaller crates, which can lower your freight and material handling costs. Print literature near the show instead of paying to move boxes of it, or send it digitally after the show. There are more ideas in cut energy costs at tradeshows.

Have a plan B

Before you leave for the show, know what you'd do if your display doesn't show up and who you'd call. It's one of the 25 most common trade show mistakes I see.

Start here

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