How to Ship Your Display to a Trade Show

Getting your display to the show floor is often the most confusing part of exhibiting, and handling fees can cost more than the shipping itself. This guide covers where to send it, how the show charges to move it to your booth, how to label it, and how to get it home.

Find the shipping section of your exhibitor manual

Each show hires a general service contractor to run the loading docks and move freight. The exhibitor manual (or service kit) names that contractor and gives you:

• the address of the advance warehouse and the dates it accepts shipments
• the address and move-in times for shipping direct to the show site
• the shipping labels to put on every box
• the material handling rates and the order form
• the outbound deadline for shipping your display home

Rules and prices differ from show to show, so treat the manual as the final word on everything below.

Advance warehouse or show site?

Advance warehouse: you ship to the contractor's warehouse in the weeks before the show, and they deliver it to your booth before you arrive. You can confirm it arrived, and your boxes are waiting when you walk in. Handling usually costs more, and shipments that arrive before or after the warehouse window can be charged a surcharge, often 25% or more.

Direct to show site: your shipment arrives at the venue during move-in. Handling is usually cheaper, but deliveries are accepted only on set days and times. If the truck is late, you may be standing in an empty booth.

For a first show, or any show you can't risk missing, the advance warehouse is usually worth the extra cost.

Material handling (drayage)

Material handling, also called drayage, is the show's fee for moving your shipment from the loading dock to your booth, storing your empty boxes and cases during the show, and moving everything back to the dock afterward. You pay it even if the shipping itself was free.

• It's charged by weight, per 100 lbs (called a hundredweight or cwt).
• Most contractors charge a minimum per shipment, often 200 lbs. A 40 lb banner stand box shipped on its own is billed as 200 lbs.
• Combine your boxes into one shipment and send them together, so you pay one minimum instead of several.
• Late, early or special-handling shipments can cost more.

Can you carry it in yourself?

Sometimes. In many cities, union labor has exclusive rights to the loading docks, so you can't bring a cart through the dock door yourself. Many shows do let exhibitors carry small items through the front entrance without paying handling, often limited to what one person can carry in a trip, without a dolly. A banner stand in its bag or a tabletop display usually qualifies. Check the manual's hand-carry rules before you count on it.

Label every piece

• Use the show's labels, filled in with your company name, booth number and the show name.
• Number each piece: 1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3.
• Put a label on more than one side of each box or case.
• Keep the tracking numbers or freight paperwork with you at the show.

Getting it home

Plan the return before you leave for the show. Book your carrier and bring outbound labels, or arrange the return at the show's service desk. When the show closes, pack up, label each piece for the return trip, and hand in the outbound paperwork. Freight that isn't picked up by the deadline is usually sent with the contractor's own carrier, at a higher price.

Shipping your order from ExhibitTown

• Most displays ship by UPS or FedEx. You'll see the rate at checkout, based on the weight and your address.
• Large kits ship by freight truck. Freight isn't charged at checkout: we email you a freight quote to approve before your order ships. Each product page says how it ships.
• Production time is shown on every product page and starts after you approve your proof. Order at least three weeks before your show, and earlier for a 10x20 or an island.
• For your first show, have it shipped to you. You can check every piece, practice the setup and learn how it packs before you send it on.
• Want it shipped straight to the show? Email us the show's shipping instructions before you order, and we'll tell you whether it can arrive inside the warehouse window.

See our shipping page for details, the 10x10 booth checklist for what to bring, and transport cases for gear that travels well. Questions about a specific show? Ask us.