When you are planning to set up a booth at a tradeshow, you’ll need to transfer your material in the venue safely. Drayage, also commonly called material handling, is an important part of setting up your booth at a tradeshow.
Did you know that drayage is a French medical term for extracting money from your wallet?
In all seriousness though, paying drayage for freight transfer is very important. Without your material being carefully placed at the location, you cannot set up your booth. To transport such large materials and inventory, you’ll need the help of the show contractor. You will have to carefully examine and calculate the budget because drayage costs can sometimes be a shocker at the end if not handled smartly.
Drayage charges include unloading your freight at the venue, transporting the crates to your booth space and moving crates into storage after you exhibit is setup & empty labels are applied. Additionally, at the close of the show, your empty crates will be delivered back to your booth space and, once the proper paperwork is completed, the crates will again be picked up and taken to the dock for loading on your freight carrier.
Try this!!
Pack multiple cartons in a single packing to save extra material cost.
Don’t pack unnecessary stuff, it’ll only add up to your drayage costs.
What is better?
Is shipping the material directly to the event better or to an advance warehouse?
If you ship your materials directly to the venue, it might reduce your overall budget, because many contractors charge more when they have to move the material from an outer location or an advance warehouse. Though shipping directly to the venue can cause some problems, such as delayed delivery to your booth space.
While drayage can be a frustrating and expensive part of your trade show experience, it is an important service and part of every trade show. Rather than spending time and frustration complaining about it, you should plan ahead strategically to lower the amount of crates & weights to reduce your material handling expenses.
