Drayage Cost – Know The Most Common Yet Puzzling Tradeshow Terminology

It is a coordinated effort that happens behind the scenes. These are ‘necessary evils’ that cannot be avoided. Trade show drayage or material handling charges can come out of the blue, especially towards the end of a trade show. These costs refer to the movement of exhibition material to the booth.

This unavoidable expense can be seaport/ airport handling charges, dressing up (removing packing materials), temporary storage of packing materials, returning materials to ports, loading and unloading, etc. To your surprise, the trade show drayage could be much higher than the other transportation expenses.

What is Drayage?

Trade show drayage refers explicitly to the expense of unloading and moving your trade show material from the entrance dock of a venue or fairground to your booth before the show and also back to the dock after the show ends. The trade show drayage includes handling and storing empty tradeshow material crates and pallets during your show or conference. The trade show drayage costs differ depending on the city and location of the show. This cost is always in addition to your shipping costs quoted by the booth builder because it needs to be paid to the organizer and not the booth builder.

Why is trade show drayage so expensive?

Your shipping company or booth decorator is not allowed to ship your booth material to your booth, so they don’t end up charging for trade show drayage. Hence this cost needs to be paid to the organizer by you, the trade show booth participant. It is not surprising that the trade show drayage cost for a show could, at times, cost more than shipping your booth across the country.

This is because the trade show drayage is charged per hour by labor unions of the fairground, which is the only supplier for this service at that venue. Quite often, the organizer uses ‘trade show drayage’ as a means to levy their other operational charges to the participants. The labor charges are decided ahead of the trade show schedule, and the exhibitors are informed of the lack of negotiation scope. Rush charges and weekend rates could make the deal very expensive, so it makes total sense to book it in advance.

How are Trade Show Drayage Charges Calculated?

The age-old empirical formulae are still the basis of calculation. The weight per 100 Pound is the accepted norm. In America, maybe $60 ~$160 per CWT is the average for common goods in pallets or crates that a forklift can lift. For fragile items with special handling instructions, the rates would shoot up. Overdimensional consignment (ODC), late arrivals, climate, etc. can call for extra charges. Trade show drayage charges may also vary depending on the way you arrange your packing, sometimes the number of small packages and the volume may be the criteria.

There are no fractional charges for consignments. And rounding up the additional weight to the upper side is also usual. Here is an example: For a 410 Pound item, you may have to shell out for 500 Pounds or 5 CWT. The individual packaging of small items would make you shell out as much as three times than when sent in one packing.

How Much Should You Be Prepared to Shell Out?

The show decorators calculate the movement and distribution of materials to different booths in various ways. An indicative figure approved by the 2011 guidelines of the Event Marketing Institute (EMI) and the Exhibit Designers and Producers Association (EDPA) is as follows:

How Can You Save on Drayage?

With little or no room for negotiation on trade show drayage costs, there are still ways to minimize them and save on your trade show expenses. We enlist some tips here:

1.Know your shipping choices

As an exhibitor, you are free to use your regular (or any) consignment agent to ship your trade show exhibit to the fair location. Many reputed carriers such as UPS, FedEx may not take the material directly to the trade show site and would ship only to their local warehouse. Organizers have a panel of shipping companies that are their preferred partners. The advantage of these is that they could quote you standard rates for shipping + trade show drayage and you could steal a deal and save cost there.

2.One booth one shipment

It is advisable to ship all the material as one consignment rather than dividing it into different shipments. The moment you divide your booth crates into, typically, one for structure, another for graphics, and a third for lights, it makes it difficult for the organizers to sort and track your shipments. More man-hours are needed to ensure your material reaches the same booth on time, and more man-hours always add more dollars to your trade show drayage bill.

3.Package and label your booth well

Trade show exhibits that are custom-designed using modular construction are best suited to reducing trade show drayage costs. This is owing to their structure, which can be packed flat and needs compact crates and pallets to store and transport. This lowers the labor cost for internal movement, packing and unpacking, and loading/unloading, considerably reducing the trade show drayage charges. Compact empty packing crates take less space for storage and reduce the cost of storing them during the show.

4.Shipping to the advanced warehouse

Direct shipment to a trade show site is a plus point, provided you take care of the exact days the consignments are allowed to be taken in. Remember, packages delivered by the carrier to the site directly save a bit but are subject to some trade show drayage costs once they arrive. Shipping directly to a convention center can sometimes have unforeseen challenges, too. It could be arduous to track down your package, especially if multiple shows are in the same facility. It will also reduce your material handling charges considerably.

This is because the decorator handles your freight items much less when moving from an advanced warehouse. There are also some significant benefits to shipping to the advanced warehouse. Materials arrive in booth space faster. If you ship to the advanced warehouse, you can be sure of the availability of the materials in your booth space.

The Final Word

If you’re exhibiting at a tradeshow, you will most likely be presented with a hefty material handling and trade show drayage bill at the show’s end. To avoid the shock, you must implement some of the abovementioned suggestions. These precautions may not solve your trade show drayage worries but can help you minimize expenses and avoid extra charges. Every little bit helps cut costs.