Some of the major show contractors have added a new special handling charge to your invoice – this involves your material handling/drayage bill. In the past carpet and padding could be shrink wrapped to the top of a crate – now that is considered a special handling charge. To go around this you have to crate your carpet – which again is an additional crate weight charge – and if your crate is less than 10 feet long – your carpet must be bent into the crate, which can cause unsightly bubbling on the show floor.

Forcing your Freight – If at the end of the show your Material Handling form is not completed and turned into the general show contractor’s service desk your freight can be forced to the general contractor’s warehouse for storage. Then you will have a storage bill pending instructions from you. Otherwise your forced freight may be shipped via the official shipping carrier at non-discounted rates. Either way a no win situation.

Freight and material handling can be a very expensive topic. You must weigh the cost of a custom exhibit that might go together in less time verses the weightiness of that same exhibit. You must consider how much literature you bring to a show as handouts – why not get a business card and send a personal email after the show with your pdf’d literature? Remember if the client is flying home they have weight issues at the airport and your literature might be the first to go. Lastly deadlines –if you miss the Advanced Warehouse you must pay a a driver to sit in line to be called to drop the freight at the show – that makes your bill escalate exponentially and then you are hit or miss on your labor call either sitting and waiting while you pay them or working overtime and double time to get your exhibit installed.