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I Want It Now! Tips for Freight & Drayage
When it comes to trade show budgets, the one most misunderstood is freight and drayage. Consider the cost of renting versus purchasing an exhibit—you can amortize the cost of an exhibit, but freight and drayage are expenses for every show. Whether you do it yourself or it’s handled by a contractor, here are tips for saving time and money.

First of all, a couple definitions:

Freight
You can transport your exhibit and materials yourself or pay a carrier (truck, ship, and plane) to pick up everything at your location and get it to the show city. If you choose to ship, you can select your own carrier or the official carrier contracted by show management. Tip: Using the official carrier gives your freight preference in getting it to the loading dock and onto the show floor.

Drayage
This is the most expensive word you may not know. Drayage fees pay only to (1) move your goods from the loading dock to your exhibit hall location (2) remove the empty crates before the show, store them during the show, and return them after the show (3) move your repacked goods back to the loading dock after the show.

Drayage is more common in the U.S. and parts of Canada than the rest of the world which uses an inclusive contractor system. Cost for drayage is based on a contract between show management and the drayage company (usually a labor union). The critical components are weight in hundred pounds (CWT) and time. If your freight weighs 50 pounds and comes in during overtime hours, you’ll be charged for 100 pounds and overtime hours. Tip: Don’t send lots of small packages.

Plan for shipping
Often it’s not included in the original budget. Shipping prices are based on a number of factors (time, weight, dimensional size, etc.) and may be difficult to define in advance, but you can get accurate estimates and hold your suppliers to a freight cost if it’s in writing. Expect to a 20% add-on for every middleman it passes through.

Take it with you
It used to be you had to ship everything, including printed materials, prior to the show. Now you can rent the display and bring electronic files (plus an original hard copy) for your printed material. This gives you the flexibility to distribute just-in-time information at the show.

Technology is not necessarily better
E-mail is great, TIF is tops, but a hard copy of whatever you need to produce for the show is still required. And, if you have materials which must match PMS (Pantone Matching System, for printing only) , you need the real number, not an approximation (when you say “It’s really red.” –it really doesn’t work).

Get estimates before you ship
This means you need to know the approximate weight, dimensional size (cubic), zip code, and the drop-dead deadlines for delivery. The correct address is mandatory. You can’t send materials to the hotel and expect delivery to your room or the convention center. In many cases, the hotel or convention center will refuse it, or will charge you extraordinary fees to accept and store deliveries.

Ship less
It’s estimated that 10% of show attendees have a direct interest in your company, so if there are 10,000 expected attendees, don’t send 10,000 brochures. Send 1,000. If you don’t use them all, you have a small number to ship back. If you run out, this gives you the opportunity to follow-up with a mailing.

Arrange to ship it back
Why do thousands of dollars worth of materials get swept up and thrown away? Because everybody thought you’d give away all the toys, pens, brochures, packets, CDs, etc. If it costs money to go, it costs money to come back.

Fill out all the packing slips and make arrangement for payment before you go to the show. Know the rules—some carriers won’t allow you to ship COD. And, remember to have copies and be sure the paperwork is in order before you leave the show floor at the close of your event.

Review the paperwork after the show
Match your written estimates and agreements against the actual bills. At the end of the show, it’s easy to be over-charged, especially as you are rushing to leave the hall. Resolve any billing questions related to freight charges, time and weight for drayage, damage to shipping cases, etc. before you leave. Get copies of all change orders for contracts and billing agreed to at the show and inform show management of any problems.

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