Shipping is the part of exhibiting that feels most familiar — you ship things all the time — and that familiarity is exactly why it goes wrong. Trade show freight has its own rules, its own addresses, its own windows, and a second bill (material handling) waiting at the other end. This guide covers the first bill and how to keep it from inflating the second.
Pick a carrier that does trade shows
A general freight carrier will quote you a lower number. They'll also deliver to the wrong dock, show up outside your window, refuse to wait in a marshalling yard, and charge you for every minute of it. Trade show carriers know what a targeted move-in is, know what a marshalling yard is, and know the show's name and your booth number need to be on the paperwork.
Questions to ask any carrier before booking:
- Do you handle trade show freight, and have you delivered to this venue?
- What's your discount off the standard freight class used for exhibit materials?
- What are your accessorial charges — waiting time, fuel surcharge, liftgate, inside delivery, residential pickup, redelivery?
- Will you split or consolidate my shipment in transit? (You want "no" on splitting — a split shipment arrives as two, and pays two minimums at the dock.)
- Can you get a certified weight ticket?
The show's official carrier is worth a quote. They're rarely the cheapest line rate, but they're scheduled around the show, which eliminates most late fees, and they have no waiting-time surprises.
The two destinations
The advance warehouse. Opens roughly 30 days before move-in, closes about a week before (the "advance warehouse deadline"). Freight shipped here is received, checked in, and delivered to your booth before you arrive. You can confirm it arrived days before the show. This is the right choice for almost everyone, almost every time.
Direct to show site. Freight arrives at the venue dock during move-in, in your targeted window if the show uses targets. Correct for very heavy or oversized freight, for anything the warehouse won't accept, or for shows with a short warehouse window. Wrong for anyone who can't guarantee the truck hits the window.
In most kits the warehouse is also the cheaper material handling rate — contractors want freight there so they can stage the floor in order. Either way it buys you a month of slack and a confirmation email. Take it, and check the two rates in your kit.
The windows
- Warehouse opens: ~M − 30. Freight arriving earlier is usually refused or stored at a fee.
- Warehouse deadline: ~M − 7. After this, a late surcharge (often ~25%), and no guarantee it reaches your booth before you do.
- Direct target: your assigned date and time on targeted shows; the published move-in schedule otherwise. Early trucks wait. Late trucks pay off-target.
- Overtime receiving: weekends, evenings, holidays. Surcharge on the drayage, not the shipping — but your carrier's delivery schedule decides whether you hit it.
Build two days of slack into every transit estimate. A late pickup, a weather delay, a missed connection — any of them costs you the warehouse deadline, and the warehouse deadline is a 25% penalty on your entire drayage bill.
Labels and paperwork
Every piece gets a label with the show name, your company name as it appears on the booth, your booth number, the piece count ("4 of 9"), and the correct destination address copied exactly from the kit's shipping labels.
That last part is where real money disappears. The advance warehouse is a specific address for this specific show, and it's different from the contractor's branch office, which is different from the venue. Every season, freight gets shipped to the contractor's office across town because somebody searched for the company's address instead of reading the label. It then has to be found, re-labeled and moved — at your expense, late.
Inbound, your carrier needs a bill of lading with certified weights. Weigh everything before pickup, and ask the carrier to get certified weight tickets. Those tickets are what you'll use to dispute drayage if the billed weight is wrong.
Accessorial charges
The line-item quote is never the bill. Accessorials are the extras, and on trade show freight they're common:
- Liftgate — no dock at pickup
- Inside delivery / inside pickup — beyond the dock door
- Residential — pickup or delivery at a non-commercial address
- Waiting time — trucks queued at a marshalling yard or dock
- Redelivery — missed window, second attempt
- Fuel surcharge — usually a percentage
- Pad wrap, do-not-stack, air ride — special equipment or handling requests
Ask for each one up front, and when you fill out the outbound paperwork, know that every box you tick on the shipping options list adds cost.
Where not to ship
Not to your hotel. Hotel business centers charge handling fees per package — often from a few dollars to $35 for small items, and $150 or more for pallets and crates — plus storage after a few days, plus hourly labor to break down anything bulky. Then you still have to get it to the hall. And the hotel has no idea what a targeted move-in is.
Not to the convention center's business center for booth freight. Same fee structure, same problem. Business centers are for the forgotten box of brochures, not the booth.
Not to the contractor's office. See above.
Not to yourself at the venue. Freight addressed to a person at a convention center with no show name and booth number goes to the dock's lost-and-found pile.
The kit has two addresses — warehouse and show site — and two label templates. Use them, and nothing else.
Insurance
The GSC's liability for your freight while they handle it is limited — commonly to a few dollars per pound or a few hundred dollars per piece, whichever is less. Your carrier's liability is also limited. Neither covers the replacement value of a booth. If you're shipping anything you can't afford to lose, buy cargo insurance for the trip, and make sure your corporate policy covers property at a show.
Outbound
Outbound shipping is covered in the move-out guide, but the two things to do before the show: book the outbound carrier about a week before close, and pre-file the material handling agreement online if your GSC allows it — one per destination. Nothing on move-out day goes well for an exhibitor who hasn't done these two.
International exhibitors
Add a customs broker and a freight forwarder with trade show experience, and add their deadlines to the calendar — they'll be weeks ahead of the warehouse window. Decide early between temporary import (an ATA carnet for property going home) and permanent import (giveaways and samples staying in the country), because the paperwork is different and so are the duties. Expect the forwarder to deliver to the advance warehouse, not direct, and make sure the forwarder, not you, is the party on the inbound paperwork the warehouse sees. U.S. kits use pounds and feet; convert before you fill anything in.
The short version
Trade show carrier, advance warehouse, two days of slack, labels copied from the kit, certified weights, cargo insurance. Do those six things and your inbound freight stops being a source of surprises. The planner tracks each shipment's destination, window, carrier and weight, and warns you before any of the windows close.
Frequently asked questions
- Should I use a trade show carrier or a general freight carrier?
- A trade show carrier. General carriers quote lower line rates but don't understand targeted move-ins or marshalling yards, and their waiting-time, redelivery and off-target costs usually exceed the savings.
- Can I ship my trade show materials to my hotel?
- You can, but hotel and convention-center business centers charge handling fees per package and per pallet, storage after a few days, and hourly labor for bulky items, and you still have to get it to the hall. Use the advance warehouse.
- What address do I ship trade show freight to?
- The show-specific advance warehouse address or show-site address printed on the shipping labels in your exhibitor kit. Not the contractor's branch office and not the venue's general address.
- What are accessorial charges on trade show freight?
- Carrier extras beyond the line-haul rate: liftgate, inside delivery, residential pickup or delivery, waiting time, redelivery and fuel surcharges. Ask for each one before booking.
More exhibitor guides
Every figure in this guide is a typical range. Your show's exhibitor service manual governs the actual dates, rates and rules.