All freight is not equal — good logistics partners know that certain types of shipments require a vastly different approach. That’s especially true when it comes to shipping exhibits and booths for conferences and trade shows. Trade show shipments often have more stringent requirements and demand attention to detail.
Our team at Shaker has learned a lot about this special type of freight over the last 30 years. Here are the key steps we advise clients to follow when preparing to ship materials for an important conference or expo.
Plan Ahead to Move Ahead
Trade show shipping is worth every penny. The cost of missing the show far outweighs the savings of cheaper transportation.
We understand that a trade show booth is a huge investment for our customers and an important asset to their business, which is why they shouldn’t pinch pennies when it comes to trade show shipping. If you’ve invested six figures in sponsoring, attending, and building booth materials for a critical industry event, why risk it all to save $500 in shipping costs? It’s well worth the cost to choose a partner who is guaranteed to get you there.
Larger trade shows often provide the name and contact information of a logistics partner affiliated with the show and can make it seem like exhibitors must use that provider for shipping, delivery, and removal of their booth materials. That’s just not the case. As long as you’re following the rules of the expo and venue, you’re typically welcome to arrange your own logistics. Working with a partner like Shaker can give you more control and better costs than defaulting to the show-recommended provider.
Heavy Lifting in Operations
A good logistics partner will be your trusty guide to all things trade show.
The first step is always to review instructions provided by the event to note any specific deadlines. We walk our customers through exhibitor manuals so we’re aligned on exactly what the rules and requirements are for each venue.
Once we have a solid understanding of the trade show requirements and your booth components, we can provide recommendations on the best type of equipment and carriers to use. If your booth is relatively small, our specialized expedited less-than-truckload partners will serve you much better than a common carrier. However, if you’re shipping expensive sample products, have a large booth, or simply want to ensure that your materials have a dedicated truck without any additional stops, we usually advise choosing a full truckload option as the most foolproof way to success.
When all this is decided, our operations team begins building a plan. Communication is critical at this point – if anything changes about what’s being shipped, when it needs to arrive, or where it’s going after the show ends, that information must be passed to us quickly so our team can adapt. We always check and recheck plans with our customers to ensure we’re capturing any changes.
Pack Up for Pick-Up
Take extra care when packaging your booth for shipment and ask your logistics partner for advice.
We review the components of a trade show booth and understand how it’s broken down into boxes or crates. We can advise on methods for safely packing and labeling materials. This usually involves reusable crates, foam inserts, and lots of bubble wrap.
Specifying to potential carriers in our network whether additional packing tools like straps, padding, or blankets are required ensures that we get accurate pricing and that the driver of the truck has those materials on hand at pickup of the freight.
Oftentimes the carrier will pick up at an exhibit house where the booth was designed and stored until it needs to ship out. If an exhibitor has demo equipment, the carrier will pick those pieces up directly from the shipper to be moved with the booth to the show.
The Inbound Shipment
Time is money, so know your needs and work with your logistics partner to decide what delivery options are best for you.
The most important variable in trade show logistics is time. Delivery windows are strict and can be defined down to the minute. Carriers could be required to wait in line to deliver freight for three hours or up to three days, depending on the trade show’s size. It is critical that the carrier is informed and experienced in the workings of trade shows. We consider all of this when quoting rates, selecting carriers, and communicating with the customer.
There’s no worse scenario than a company’s marketing and sales department spending thousands of dollars designing and creating a killer trade show booth, only to have it not arrive in time for the show. Conversely, you don’t want your trade show booth sent away for storage before it’s fully ready to go. We give clients choices for how to handle their trade show shipments, like using an advance warehouse or doing a direct-to-show shipment.
An advance warehouse is a location sometimes provided by the trade show host near the venue, where freight is stored up to four weeks before the show. This adds storage and handling fees but ensures that the freight will be available on time for set-up. A direct-to-show shipment has the carrier deliver freight directly to the show venue at the expected date. This approach includes risks like shipping delays or early arrival fees but can give you those extra weeks for critical booth design. We want to provide the best solutions with the least amount of stress for our customers, so we discuss the tradeoffs of each option to collaboratively determine which delivery method best meets their needs.
On The Dock
When the freight delivers it’s in the venue’s hands, but keep your logistics partner updated for a smooth pick-up.
Once the freight has arrived and is ready to be moved off the truck, either into an advance warehouse or onto the show floor, the venue steps in to handle it. Some trade show venues are governed by union contracts and allow only specific individuals or teams to offload and move freight into an exhibit hall. Often fees for unloading are charged to exhibitors directly by the trade show. While we can’t negotiate these fees, we can consider them when understanding your budget and shipment goals.
Once your exhibit materials have been delivered to the show floor inside the venue, set-up begins and it’s showtime! We like to check in with customers during the show so we remain in lockstep on when the show will end and what the pick-up plans are.
Packing Up and Out
The show is over, but only for now. Familiarize yourself and your logistics partner with the next steps so the freight moves in the right direction.
Of course, once the trade show ends, all booth materials have to leave the floor. But where they go next should be factored into the shipping plan. Sometimes a booth will be directly shipped to the next show, while other times it’s returned to a customer’s facility or a warehouse. Smart thinking about shipping and logistics can cut down trade show costs in other areas. If you exhibit at back-to-back shows, it can be impossible to move booth contents between the two overland via truck in time. We can arrange air freight in this case, so the company doesn’t need to build a second booth.
Things can get hectic at the loading dock, so it is important that the freight is properly labeled and released for us to pick it up. Our process at Shaker is to always provide specific and easy-to-follow move-out instructions right to your booth, eliminating any uncertainty or stress for our customers.
Once the booth is packed up and we have been notified that the freight is ready to move, our carefully selected carriers adhere to strict pick-up windows to avoid “forced freight.” If a booth is not removed from the show floor within the designated window, it will be “forced” off the floor and transported by a carrier of the venue’s choosing to a warehouse for holding, or the venue will organize a return shipment. In either case, when a show has to move exhibits off the floor using its own arrangements, the costs passed on to the exhibitor are typically exorbitant. Customers can avoid these expenses by working with us to plan for booth removal and onward shipping. By planning return routes in advance, we help our customers avoid these extra expenses and ensure that their freight gets to where it needs to be.
Stress-Free Trade Show Logistics Starts Here
Don’t let trade show logistics overwhelm you! Let our experts do the heavy lifting. Contact Shaker Logistics today to find out how we can help with your next trade show.