Logistics Tips
Where to ship when shipping late? Do you ship to the advance warehouse or directly to the show site when shipping late?
As a general rule you're safer shipping to the advance warehouse, believes trade show consultant Nancy Sheddan. At larger shows in major venues it will cost less (most of the time) to pay a late fee to the advance warehouse versus paying a freight company to wait at the show hall. You can estimate those costs by determining your material handling charges against your estimated weight. For instance, you might find 30 percent of a $900 drayage charge is less than five hours or more at $60+ per hour. Keep in mind, when your freight is unloaded at the show-site dock, you still have to wait for the Teamsters to get it to your booth. This can take hours. All exhibitor freight coming from the warehouse is delivered first - right after the contractor gets their freight in and the aisles are piped and draped, and before the show-direct freight is off-loaded at the docks. If you have complicated setups or need time for electrical and electronic cable hook-ups, you minimize I&D labor costs by having your freight in your space before your I&D team arrives.
Expert advice on exhibit insurance
If your exhibit properties are damaged, lost, or stolen while on the road or in the custody of your carrier or the show general contractor, what would happen? Have you budgeted to replace them? Transit coverage provided by most carriers while freight is under their control is minimal, says David E. Lewis, president of Trade Show Transportation.
Lewis reports that drayage damage claims against a general contractor are almost never proven and paid. Read the fine print in your exhibitor services manual, he goes on to say, and you'll find that there is a maximum of $100 or less per item lost or damaged.
To cover your exhibit door-to-door, Lewis says, your best bet is to work with your corporate Risk Management Department to determine the value of what you are shipping to shows and the amount of deductible you're willing to pay in case of a claim.
He says an inexpensive insurance rider can usually be placed on your current corporate policy to cover your exhibit assets any time they're on the road.
Vulnerable on the road
Al Smith of O'Neil-United Van Lines says the main reason exhibit managers should look into insuring their exhibit properties is the extreme vulnerability of shipments traveling to and from trade shows.
When you consider the average cost of a new island exhibit is tens of thousands of dollars, insurance seems more a question of "What kind?" than "Use it or not?"
You can obtain insurance for your exhibit through two sources, notes Smith. You can obtain it through a corporate policy or a policy purchased through your transportation company.
1. Corporate policy
Most companies have their own insurance. Two questions to ask about your corporate policy are:
· Does the policy cover properties once they leave the premises?
· How much insurance coverage is there, and what is the deductible? Most corporate policies have huge deductibles (typically $5,000 or more), which in effect means the exhibitor is "self-insured" except for large losses.
2. Transportation company policy
You can also buy insurance through your transportation company:
· Most transportation companies offer "trip transit" coverage, which insures your shipment traveling to and from a show - but not once it's unloaded from the truck or on the show floor. However, if your corporate policy covers your exhibit properties at shows, you may opt for a trip transit policy. Typically, the premium is $3 per $1,000 of coverage.
· A more inclusive type of insurance that you can purchase through your transportation company is an "exhibition floater" policy. This policy covers your exhibit properties both in transit and while at shows. Typically the premium is $6 per $1,000 of coverage.
· Even if you don't purchase either of these policies, your shipment is automatically insured by your transportation company. This coverage is called "released value" or "limited liability" and is included in the basic transportation charge. However, the disadvantage to this is that the "released value" is typically far below the actual value of your shipment (as low as 60 cents per pound per article).
How to work successfully with contract labor
We asked Mike Mills, a veteran I&D manager at Skyline, for advice on how to work successfully with the contract labor force at trade shows. Here's what he said:
Learn union or contract regulations and understand union jurisdictions. At any given show you will deal with many support people - the list could include carpenters, riggers, electricians, plumbers, stagehands, freight handlers and decorators. Often each specialist is under the jurisdiction of a different union.
Work within the regulations - show laborers have a job to do and are usually very professional about it. When problems arise, there are systems in place to address them. The labor desk at shows can solve most misunderstandings or refer them onto someone who can.
Awareness of the work at hand is important to get the most out of your labor dollar. If you have questions, don't hesitate to call one of the general contractors and ask them. Don't begrudge a union worker for hourly service rates. They don't set those rates and their wages don't necessarily reflect those rates. Above all, treat show laborers professionally and they will hold you in the same high regard.
