Material Handling (formerly referred to as drayage)

Material handling can be a challenging part of your participation in an exhibition. With an understanding of the process and some preplanning, it can be painless.

Material handling is the process of receiving your materials, either at the warehouse in advance of the show or at the show site during move-in, delivering them to your booth, removing empty containers for storage during the show, returning the empty containers to your booth after the show, delivering your materials back to the dock and loading for outbound shipping. Charges are determined by weight and ease of handling.

Check the service manual for deadline dates. Do not pay unnecessary late charges by missing deadlines or target dates.

Always obtain a signed bill of lading from your carrier and bring it with your to the show site. Also, send a copy to the service contractor. Bills of lading are critical if you need to trace missing freight.

Check with the service contractor to make sure your materials have arrived. The sooner you know there is a problem, the easier it is to solve it.

Save money by consolidating your shipments. There is a minimum charge for each individual shipment.

Make sure containers are really empty before applying an EMPTY sticker. It is expensive and sometimes impossible to retrieve an empty container once it has been removed from your booth.

When you are repacked and ready to ship, fill out an outbound bill of lading and leave it with the service contractor. Never leave it in the booth with your materials. Take a copy of the bill with you.