Define Drayage

Drayage can be a mysterious expense for first-time trade show exhibitors or event managers. Here’s everything you need to know.

Drayage definition

What is drayage? Trade show drayage refers to the handling of your booth materials including your booth structure, promotional giveaways, collateral, and other items, before, during, and after the trade show or event takes place. Drayage can also be referred to as trade show material handling.

It’s important to fully understand what drayage is and what it is not before you exhibit at your first trade show. If you’re new to exhibiting or event management, you may assume that the drayage expense is the same as the freight or shipping expense. It is not. Getting this wrong can cause your expenses to grow quickly and your budget to be out of control.

Let’s take a look at what drayage means.

What’s the difference between freight and drayage?

Let’s compare what drayage means within the context of shipping your materials to a trade show. Understanding the freight expense vs. the drayage expense is critical to successfully controlling costs.

Freight expense

The freight or shipping expense includes:

• The movement of your booth, collateral, signs, giveaways, and other materials, from your company's office or the exhibit house to the show's advance warehouse or the loading dock of the convention center, conference center, or hotel before the show begins.

• The shipment of your materials from the show’s loading dock back to your office, your exhibit house, or any other location after the show is over.

Drayage expense

What does drayage include? Some examples are:

• The movement of your exhibitor materials from the loading dock to your booth space before the show.

• The delivery of any packages during the show.

• The storage of empty crates and boxes during the show.

• The return of your crates and boxes to your booth after the show is over.

• The movement of your materials from your booth to the loading dock so it can be picked up by your shipper and sent back to your office or exhibit house.

Freight / shipping vs. drayage

Here is a photo comparison of the difference between freight and drayage that may help you understand.

How are drayage costs calculated?

Drayage is typically calculated based on the weight of your materials and the number of packages.

Items included in a drayage charge and the actual dollar amounts associated with them vary from show to show and city to city. That's why it's challenging to have an accurate drayage account cost before or during the show. Some expenses you will know ahead of time, and others you will not.

Weigh your materials before they’re shipped. This will enable you to calculate the cost of moving your booth from the hall's loading dock to your booth space. You’ll know during installation how many crates you are sending to the boneyard (the show’s storage area). You can also guess the weight of post-show materials, which show labor will bring from your booth back to the loading dock. Since these are standard drayage line items that every exhibitor has, you can develop a ballpark rate to include in your budget spreadsheet.

What's unknown is whether you’ll need to visit the boneyard for lost items, have individual packages delivered during show hours, or have an emergency that requires the help of additional show staff. Unforeseeable events like these can add up throughout the show and increase your budgeted drayage expense by 5-25 percent, or more.

You will find a drayage or material handling form in your show’s exhibitor services manual. Calculate both your expected shipping and drayage costs individually to better budget for two of your more significant expenses.

Do I have to pay drayage expenses?

Yes. Drayage is an inescapable expense. It is critical to know that the drayage service expense is in addition to the shipping costs you will incur to get your freight to and from the show.

Trade show material handling: Top 3 tips to cut your expenses

1. Know your target move-in dates and times and make sure your shipper knows them too. Whether you’re shipping to the advance warehouse or directly to the show’s loading dock, there are normal hours of operation during which freight will be accepted from your shipper at the standard rate. Any deliveries before or after normal hours of operation will be billed at an overtime rate which can be up to 30% more than the standard rate.
   

2. Know the minimum drayage weight for which you will have to pay and consolidate shipments. Every trade show, conference, or other event has a minimum charge to received each shipment. Since your charge will be based on the total shipment weight, and the minimum weight charge is typically 200 pounds, it’s best to consolidate small and lightweight packages into one shipment over 200 pounds.

   For example, if the base drayage fee for a 200 pound shipment is $175.00 and you send one shipment containing 2 boxes at 100 pounds each, you drayage cost will be $175.00. If you send each 100 pound box separately, you will have 2 drayage charges of $175.00 each, totaling $300.00.
   

3. Always have the weight of show materials in mind from the beginning of your trade show preparations. The weight of your booth structure, promotional items, flooring, furniture, and anything else you will ship to the show can have a huge impact on your final trade show material handling cost. Keep weight top of mind as you begin your trade show exhibitor preparations.

   For example, what materials will you use to build your booth structure and your product demo stations? Are there lighter weight materials that could be used instead and provide the same effect?

   Are you considering shipping furniture along with your booth? What will the total weight be? Better yet, could you rent the same furniture from the show decorator for a cheaper price?

   What promotional items have you chosen to giveaway? Oversize coffee mugs may be a fun remembrance of your trade show in Seattle but the cost to ship 300 large, heavy, and fragile coffee mugs will be much more than if you shipped 300 t-shirts.