In many cases shipping to the show site directly will lower your material handling charges (drayage). Why? If you are shipping directly to the show site the show contractor is handling your freight items much less than if they are moving items from the advance warehouse. However there are some significant benefits to shipping to the advance warehouse including that your materials arrive into your booth space faster. Generally if you ship to the advance warehouse, once the exhibit set up starts, your materials are typically available in your booth space by your targeted time. Additionally, you have enough to be worrying about in your trade show planning – shipping your exhibit ahead of time takes one item off your list.
Don’t under estimate the value of these two items. Shows with lots of exhibitors and short set up times can make having your materials in your booth space already a blessing. Direct shipping can be less expensive in terms of drayage unit costs, however paying a union driver to sit in the marshaling yard for ten hours will cost you far more in the end! If you are pressed for time you can ship directly to the show hall but be aware that some shows have specific days and times for each exhibitor to have their items arrive. You can generally find this information on your quick facts page. If your show has a targeted move in double check all date and time information for shipping directly to the show as in addition to getting show site shipping charges you can get additional off-target charges.
Save FedEx and UPS for shipping to hotels and for smaller shipments but keep in mind that these carriers will not wait in lines or marshaling yards to deliver items to the show hall so if you use those services it is best to send your show materials to the advance warehouse.
Regardless of whether you ship your materials to the advance warehouse or direct to show, ship all materials at one time and together to avoid lots of separate pieces that could get lost. Once your exhibit materials are moved to your booth space, the exhibit is set up and you are finished with your shipping containers don’t forget to fill out the show contractor’s container labels. Be sure to identify your company name and booth number and put at least two labels on different sides of the container. The show decorator will then pick up your containers and store them until the show is over. That’s the lesson for this month!
