Drayage fees often exceed the cost to ship your exhibit to the show. Many exhibitors find it infuriating that a fee is needed to be paid to the show contract to move the booth from the show dock to the booth. What really is drayage for and how can it be managed from a cost standpoint?
In reviewing eight major trade shows in the last 15 years, it was found that material handling has increased by 257 percent. While other show related services such as installation and dismantle labor has increased by 21 percent. There could be several factors for this increase which include the variables factored into this service. A show contractor must rent marshaling yard space near the show site, install mobile offices to manage all the freight coming in, portable scales to weight the weight, pay staff to direct the freight, operate forklifts, pay teamsters, and process the billing paperwork. There is quite an extensive amount that goes into managing all the freight being sent in by hundreds of exhibitors.
Here are a few tips to help manage your drayage costs:
- Deliver with the time frame specified by the show. Additional fees upwards of 30% will be applied for shipments received before are after specified dates.
- Keep you freight close to the nearest CWT. Service contractors will round up to the nearest CWT even if you are 1 lb. over. For example, 701 lbs. will be billed as 800 lbs.
- The actual weight of your exhibit. During the design phase, think about how your exhibit will be crated or palletized. Using more portable options like fabric graphics instead of hard panel wall graphics will weigh considerably less.
Source: http://www.exhibitoronline.com/topics/article.asp?ID=2053
