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In my past two articles on cutting your trade show cost, I discussed the high cost of drayage and labor on the trade show floor. In this part of my article there are pointers on the best way to ship your exhibit booth to and from the show.

Most people feel that the cheapest price is the best, well not so. Some carriers specialize in transporting furniture; some specialize in food product, and some - trade show exhibits. It is for you the exhibitor to choose the best one for your product…trade show booth. Some carriers do charge more than others. You want a carrier which has the expertise to transport your trade show display safely to and from the convention. They should know about the particular show, where is the drayage yard, are they going direct to the convention center. Most trucking companies quote a figure that is just to transport.

You should get the total cost for fuel, and wait time. Sometimes the wait time can be 2 hour or it can be 8 hours. Someone has to pay for this time, guess who …that’s right the client, you. Make sure all this is clear before using any shipper. Most exhibit house will ship your booth to and from the convention hall; this can be very good because you get the best of both worlds - reduced cost and quality. Exhibit house at times get preferred rate simply because they use the same shipper over and over again; and generally that preferred cost trickles down in savings for the client.

Your exhibit booth should be kept as light as possible not only to keep the drayage cost down (please read previous article where I discussed this in depth) but also helps in shipping cost of your booth. Keep you crate or packages as small as possible and on skids. Never ship items loose. Most shows charge a special rate for loose items. Once one item is shipped loose you will be charge for the whole load special handling charge. This is usually much more that the typical drayage cost. To To prevent loss or damage make sure all items are packaged neatly. Do not allow items to overhang skids or pallets. Make sure all containers are closed properly.

Another bit of advice re cutting costs -In keeping your costs down if you have fairly large booth and would need a great deal of time to set up your booth make sure and ship your booth to advance shipment. This will allow your booth components to be placed on the exhibit floor first or if you have a target move in date, it will be one of the first on the floor on that target date. Make sure all crates, containers or skids carry label in large and clear print. I have known shipment to get lost after being delivered to the convention hall because of poor labeling. Don’t let this happen to you

To lean more on exactly how to reduce your trade show display cost , visit http://www.eldsusa.com where you will find everything you need to know about custom trade show displays, rental trade show displays at http://www.eldsusa.com/custom_trade_show_displays.html and much more. Please also view part 1 and 2 of this article at http://www.eldsusa.com/tradeshow_display_tips.html

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