trade show material handling. What is it? why is it so expensive?

Hello, fellow exhibitors, event planners, and business owners. I’m Chantal from Authentic Exhibits and today I am here to talk about material handling. I know, you are probaby wondering what is it, why is it so expensive and how can you reduce it?

This is an important topic - as I am sure many of you feel like this is a huge cost every time you exhibit, and you are continually under pressure to cut your budget from senior leadership.

Material Handling defined - Simply put material handling or 'Drayage' is a fancy word for the trade show industry - its the cost for pre-storing you're freight in a general contractors warehouse - moving your shipments to the convention - storing the empty crates - and re-delivering them & reloading them into outbound carriers. 

Everyone has to ship something to a trade show and these guys have dissected and crafted this so well in order to get every dime out of you - trust me, I dislike it as much as you do but its non-negotiable - if you don't pay it - they will leave it on the asphalt outside the convention center and you will not get it back. I have seen that happen!

If you're ever looking at a show manual or your exhibitor portal you will see material handling rates and the shipping labels for each.

Let's first look at the measurement they use to weigh your items starting with CWT, referred to as 'a 100 weight' - CWT is a standard unit of weight or mass used in certain commodities markets. In North America, CWT is still used today to measure exhibit freight.

Typically, most general contractors would charge a fee per 100lbs but it seems since Covid passed - Most general contractors now charge a dollar amount per pound - anywhere from 90 cents to as high as $5.75 - make sure to pay close attention to this.

Now, let's look at the trade show material handling rates and what you need to understand:

1. Advance Warehouse - This is when your freight is stored at the general contractors warehouse in advance then delivered to the show for move in & set up. This is the cheapest rate assigned to your freight that you want to take advantage of - its basically asking you to plan your booth, pack & ship it well in advance of the show to their warehouse.

2. Show Site: This is basically when your freight arrives directly to the convention center. Depending on the size of your booth the show will assign you a targeted move in date - the date you get is when your truck can arrive to deliver your stuff. Please consider the following consequences using this option:

Note 1 *** Be aware the rate per pound is higher than the advance warehouse rate and your truck might get held up by other trucks arriving in the marshaling yard which can further delay your freight delivery to your booth - driving up additional shipping charges for wait times. I have experienced this and a simple freight delivery doubled in price due to waiting for almost 4 hours.

Note 2 *** If you have hired labor to build your booth at 9am & your freight is still held up - then you're also paying for labor on the clock - and not to mention - it could be overtime or double over time - many things to consider here - be very careful of how you plan your logistics in correlation to your booth building.

3. Hanging Sign - this might be helpful if your booth has a hanging sign - sometimes people pre-order a new sign and it typically might ship separate from the booth. The show assigns a receiving window (just like advance warehouse) to receive hanging signs - using this also helps to save you on time & cost because they will hang your sign well in advance alleviating this part of the build. Something you want to also take advantage of - there might also be a reduction in labor rates if done at this early time - check your manual or call and ask.

Here are 6 important tips to save on your Exhibit material handling costs:

1. Make sure you check the dates the general contractor starts accepting freight and when the cut-off date is for advance warehouse. This is the most affordable rate per 100lbs or CWT.

2. Make sure you check the warehouse hours for your freight delivery - some might charge you an extra fee or an overtime/double overtime if delivered after 4pm.

3. Preparation- Make sure your freight is skidded or crated - that means sitting on an actual shipping skid or crate and shrink wrapped or strapped up well without loose pieces or else they will charge you a fee to secure it.

4. Reduce the number of shipped boxes - If you don't have that much stuff to ship or won't be using a crate but will be shipping smaller boxes - try to consolidate as many items as possible into a few boxes. General contractors will charge you a fee per box - check to see what that fee is or else it can add up @ $65 per box!

5. Calculate your total material handling costs - you might not know exactly what an entire crate weighs but here is some advice. Lets say you have a 20 x 20 booth and it takes about 2 crates to store all the pieces - a typical crate size is 95" x 48" x 60" and includes about half of the booths materials if split equally among the two. Let’s say each crate weighs about 1100lbs - thats 2200lbs total multiplied by the advance warehouse rate of $1.90 per pound - that would give you a total of $3800 for your mh costs for a 20 x 20 booth. As mentioned, try to get everything into your crates early & any other lingering items - like promotional/swag items so they are not charging you an additional fee per box on top of the crate costs. 

6. Reduce your booth size and weight. Having a 10x10 or 10x20 booth might keep your costs at a reasonable level. I offer solutions that facilitate lowering your show service costs which don't compromise on quality - you can find these on www.authenticexhibits.com.

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