Trade Show Logistic Nightmares (1)

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Trade Show Logistic Nightmares
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• Anyone who has exhibited at a trade show knows
  the anxiety of arriving at your booth space only
  to find that your freight has not arrived. You
  call your trucking company and either get lied
  to, or your told they do not know where to find
  your freight. This is a horror story based on a
  direct show site shipment.

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• This article will help you avoid this nightmare
  by using an option provided for by the general
  contractor and show sponsor called the advance
  warehouse.I have been providing services for
  exhibitors for over 30 years. Nearly every
  tradeshow provides for two methods of shipping
  your exhibit and product to the trade show.

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• The first is the direct show site shipment which
  generally requires your truck to arrive at the
  venue on a specific date and time or be accessed
  off-target charges.

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• An off-target charge is a penalty charged the
  exhibitor when their truck shows up to the show
  site venue before or after their assigned
  targeted date and time. The purpose of a targeted
  freight floor plan is to load and unload the show
  floor in an orderly manner so as to avoid blocked
  aisles and more labor intensive freight movement.

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• Generally, the contractors load the floor with
  freight starting with the furthest point from the
  freight doors and work back to the freight doors.
  Therefore, the earliest target dates are booths
  at the front of the hall or furthest from the
  docks.

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• Early target dates have the longest time to setup
  and tear-down and the best opportunity to avoid
  overtime and double-time labor charges.
  Definitely an advantage when selecting a booth
  space.

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• The disadvantage to a direct show site shipment
  is a very small window to get your truck checked
  in or be charged a penalty. Your truck driver
  may have 3 other stops before yours or you may be
  shipping in bad weather or even a truck breakdown
  with no time to spare. You also may have a
  detention time clause in your truckers agreement
  and you are required to pay while the trucker
  waits to be unloaded at the trade show venue.

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• This may cost 50 to 125 per hour with average
  wait times can range from 2 to 8 hours. You may
  pay more for the detention time than you paid for
  the shipment. If you get a high detention
  billing from your carrier you should confirm
  their check-in time and the time he was unloaded
  to verify the cost.

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• Some carriers exaggerate the detention time
  because they think the client has no way of
  checking. This is not true, the exhibitor can
  call the general contractor (or go to the service
  desk) and request the marshalling yard check-in
  ticket which is time-stamped and the bill of
  lading used to unload the truck which has the
  date and time the truck was unloaded and by whom.
  The difference between the two times is the
  detention time.

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• It is also important to add that using a carrier
  that is experienced with trade show freight is a
  must to minimize unexpected results. However, the
  2nd and definitely the better option is shipping
  your freight to the advance warehouse.

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• An advance warehouse is a warehouse controlled by
  the general contractor. The advance warehouse
  receives freight for the trade show up to
  approximately one month before the trade show,
  stores it and ships it to the venue for one low
  cost. It is important to understand that the
  contractor does not accept certain items to the
  advance warehouse like heavy machinery or
  equipment, check the exhibitor manual.

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• The advance warehouse is in close proximity to
  the trade show venue and the general contractor
  trucks the freight to the trade show venue on or
  before the exhibitors target date. The
  additional cost for shipping to the advance
  warehouse ranges from 0.00/ctw. to 13.00/ctw.
  (ctw is the cost per 100 pounds). You should
  check your exhibitor kit to get the advance
  warehouse pricing, dates and location. The
  advance warehouse has approximately a 30-day
  window for deliveries.

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• Shipping to the advance warehouse is generally
  the better option. You will definitely give
  Murphys Law a run for the money. If you use an
  exhibit house for your exhibit, make sure you
  finalize the deal in enough time for them to
  produce your exhibit and ship to the advance
  warehouse. At the end, you will save money on
  shipping, labor and get an early exhibit setup.

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• In summary, if you chose to ship directly to show
  site you risk missing your target date and time,
  high detention costs, off-target charges, late
  freight, overtime labor costs, and even missing
  freight. On the other-hand shipping to the
  advance warehouse gives you a 30-day window at a
  known fixed price and the ability to check to
  make sure all your freight has arrived far in
  advance.

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• Adrian Kamide, BA
• President of Exhibit Systems Inc.
• 30-year trade show veteran, designer, detailer,
  project manager
• Logistics coordinator, Rigger-Machinery Mover
• Specialist in machinery exhibits
• www.exhibitsystemsinc.com
• info_at_ExhibitSystemsInc.com