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Six Ways to Save Money on Material Handling

With the steadily increasing costs of material handling (also known as drayage), exhibitors often feel blindsided when the final bill arrives from the show’s general services contractor (GSC).
Material handling at a trade show involves unloading your freight, moving it to your booth space, removing the empty cases, crates, pallets or cartons before the show opens and storing them; returning the empties to your booth space, and re-loading exhibit properties after teardown. Each of these steps involves behind-the-scenes costs for moving the thousands of pounds of freight that come in to each show, rental costs for expensive marshaling-yard space near convention halls and hotels, to equipment like forklifts and radios. Whew! Exhibitors usually just swallow hard and pay up when it comes time to pay the material-handling bill, assuming since the charges are based on weight, there’s nothing you can do to minimize the cost. But, you do have some control over the final bill. Here are six ways to save money on material handling.

1)     Stop shipping unnecessary items. Material-handling fees are based on the number of 100-pound increments in your shipment. This unit of measurement is also known as CWT (pronounced hundred weight). The quickest way to rack up a horrific drayage bill is to ship things, especially heavy things, you really don’t need. Consider the weight of your exhibit, crates, product, and promotional materials to determine if you can omit anything from your next load.
2)     Choose your shipping method carefully. Your choice of carrier and the way your exhibit is packed on the truck can definitely hit you in the gut if you aren’t paying attention.
3)     Consolidate small shipments. The GSC’s charge you a weight minimum for each shipment they handle, usually 200-300 pounds. If your carrier does not provide a single material-handling invoice or air bill, and it doesn’t deliver all of your individual packages at the same time, it can cost you a bundle in material-handling minimums.
4)     Meet the inbound target dates and times. If your carrier misses the targeted window of time for its truck to arrive in the marshaling yard to unload your freight, you’ll be saddled with additional material-handling surcharges or penalties. Although not your fault, you are within your rights to ask the carrier to cover these charges you incurred, including off-target penalties, overtime unloading, and even installation & dismantle labor charges if you’re forced into overtime due to its late check in.
5)     Verify weight slips. Stories about being charged drayage for not only the weight of my freight, but the entire weight of the tractor-trailer are not uncommon. Talk about an enormous drayage bill! Mistakes like this are why it is important to stop at the GSC’s service desk the day after your freight arrives on site and ask to see your inbound certified weight slips. Verifying this information is a critical step in making sure you are not being overcharged.

Audit your material-handling invoice. Review each line item to make sure you have been billed correctly. The bottom line is to not just accept that the material-handling costs are out of your control. Use your best planning and execution skills to pare the fat from your shipment and follow the GSC’s rules.
Richard Constant, CDI Group, Inc.