Tradeshow Shipping - Exercise Your Options!

08/03/2012 — Tina Straw

Whether you’re a frequent tradeshow exhibitor, an occasional exhibitor, or a show organizer, you inevitably begin with a long list of “to-do’s” when planning your exhibit or event. You’ve probably spent months carefully considering your booth design, literature, show floor strategy, and giveaways. But one thing is for certain, your plans all hinge on your show and conference materials arriving at your event – on time and in good condition!                                                 

This is one part of the process that is often the most overlooked, and least considered – getting your precious cargo from Point A to Point B. When it comes to tradeshow shipping, many exhibitors believe that they can save time, money and energy by using the decorator’s freight solution, shipping through a small package ground program, or bringing the materials in themselves.  Sometimes exhibitors will choose to go with a lesser-known freight carrier, thinking that they will have the lowest rates.                                                                                                              

If your tradeshow shipment is at least 150lbs., you will want to find a shipping option that meets all of your most important criteria:                                    

1. Use a transportation partner that has a dedicated tradeshow shipping department – Tradeshow shipping is a unique line of business in the freight transportation world, so pick a partner that specializes in getting to know the logistics of your event. Inbound and outbound shipping paperwork, and warehouse deadlines all become easier to navigate when you’ve picked the right partner.                     

2. Who’s watching your shipment? – The success of your business can hinge on your success at a large tradeshow or event, so pick the partner that’s going to track your shipment from the time it leaves your dock to the time it gets to the show.

3. Money isn’t everything, but… – You don’t want to end up spending all of your hard-earned profits from the show on freight, but you want to make sure that you don’t jump at the lowest offer if it’s a carrier that you’ve never heard of. “Bob’s Trucking” may be offering you the lowest shipping rate, but make sure you won’t be charged additional fees that you didn’t know about, such as “wait time” and “lift gate” fees. Also, you’ll want to make sure that your show materials are covered by a certain amount of liability insurance with the carrier that you’ve chosen.

PartnerShip can help you with all of your tradeshow freight shipping, using the best national carriers, and at the most competitive rates. When you ship to a tradeshow using PartnerShip services, you can be sure that you’re getting the best service from a partner that will treat your shipment as if it was our own – daily tracking, preparing your paperwork, and providing you with the best liability insurance in the industry.

Visit TradeshowSelect.com to get a free rate quote and learn about our services. For more information, email tradeshow@PartnerShip.com or call our dedicated tradeshow team at 800-599-2902 from 8 a.m to 8 p.m. ET. Want even more tradeshow info from the experts? Download our whitepaper – The 411 to Tradeshow Shipping.