Drayage is something that everyone deals with. But is it destroying the tradeshow? Drayage is defined by Wikipedia in a pretty simple way:
Drayage service is sometimes used in trade shows, where a large number of vendors gather in a large exhibition area with a large number of products. Because of the sheer volume of goods, it would create mass confusion if the individual vendors transported their own goods and equipment into the site. Convention centers and hotels do not have the facilities, equipment, or manpower to manage the receiving and storing of all the exhibit freight. Thus, the exhibit sponsor assigns and recommends a drayage service for the entering and exiting of freight and products.
Sounds simple enough, right? Then why is it that anyone in charge of managing their company’s tradeshow says the word with such contempt. There seems to be a sense that this is one of these charges that few understand and many are overcharged for. So is it a legitimate charge? Are companies overcharged? In this economic climate, is drayage taking a ‘business-as-usual’ approach insensitive to today’s tough economy, where everyone is under pressure to lower costs?
Our view is that few people do understand the charge. A simple Google search reveals many parties answering “What is drayage?” on their FAQ page. Even its name is archaic. It originally meant: “to transport by a sideless cart”. Does anyone even know what a sideless cart is? Our point is that, if show organizers, convention centers, show contractors, and industry suppliers, indeed – tradeshows themselves are going to survive, the movers and shakers in the industry are going to have to be more upfront with their pricing. They may even have to eliminate some charges that aren’t justifiable. In a day and age when companies are being scrutinized for every expense, an archaic term that no one understands and the incredible cost associated with it, just won’t cut it. Otherwise, exhibitors are just going to throw up their arms and not show up. There are too many other forums for reaching customers today other than tradeshows that are upfront and transparent with costs.
Don’t get us wrong. We love tradeshows, they’re one the last bastions of face to face marketing. Please don’t let drayage and other “less-than-transparent” costs, kill them.
That’s our opinion. Let’s hear yours…
i don’t think so
Drayage may not be destroying trade shows but is certainly not helping. The cost of drayage and hidden costs are getting to be outrageous. Now days that companies are watching every penny that is spent many will not send as much as they normally would to a show because the drayage costs kills them. I think all of us exhibitor, general contractor, etc. need to work together to make these shows better for both sides and so we both benefit.
In my experience as a trade show coordinator for my company, who has both large AND small exhibits, I think know it is a threat to my 2010 budget! When my bosses come to me with ideas promotional items like bottled water, or ask me to include 5,000 our newest “CATALOGS”, I have to stop and warn them that the costs to provide those items at the show is more than the ‘per piece’ cost initially paid. Being charged anywhere from $90 to $136 per CTW (100lbs) with a 200 lb minimum charge can really inflate that number. Not only are shipping fees a consideration to deal with, but then another charge to get these items from point A to point B on the show floor? Of course, when the belt tightens, guess what is the first to go? It really upsets me when you need a NEW exhibit and the overall drayage charges from last year’s budget could have paid for a new exhibit twice over! Maybe associations should start packaging their rental space with 200lbs of free drayage per some 100 square feet of space instead of the “free” ugly table and chairs and the cardboard ID sign no one wants or uses…now that would sell exhibit space!
yea, agree!
the product price is much more high if drayage exists.
Drayage is a mind-bending expense for many — why should it cost about the same to move something across a convention center as it does to ship it to the convention center in the first place? And in European shows, drayage is included in the booth rental cost. However, in fairness, drayage is the cost to move containers four times, not once. First, your full crates from the dock to your booth; second, the empty crates from your booth to storage; third, your empty crates from storage to your booth after the show, and finally, your once-again full crates to the shipping dock.
We’ve followed Tradeshow Week’s annual labor cost surveys for several years, and seen double-digit price increases for drayage. I think that’s because more exhibitors have been going with lighter weight custom modular exhibits like Skyline’s. To offset the lower weight of exhibit properties, drayage charges per pound have increased. If your exhibit is still made the old-fashioned way, it’s a double-whammy.
Drayage is only one of the guilty – the list includes associations or trade groups who fund themselves from shows, show owners, cities who own the halls, etc. If you look at many aspects of trade shows -materials, culture, duration, etc you will see that exhibitors old and new have long been trying to work around the above obstacles. The very existance of “pop up” or portable gear tells me that the D&I guys – and all the other guys with hammers, hard hats, and invoices – screwed themselves into the floor. If you read the summaries that show owners pass along to each other – surveys show most exhibitors (the paying clients) are very unhappy with the whole damned batch and very likely will continue to move to processes and materials to bypass these vultures. I managed exhibits over 25 years ago and the same excesses are worse, the gouging practices are simply stunningly bold, and the D&I outfits have a million reasons with no proof that exhibits should be just a tad smaller than the Pentagon. Nonsense and adios. I’ve attended 20 shows in 3 years and there are clearly two types of exhibitors : smart ones and non-thinking ones. American Express still gives away pens even if you don’t want one. Insurance companies (big ones) don’t even show you want kind of business they write. Auto companies use babes – still. High tech companies use magicians, dancers, and babes – my God, aren’t there some lawyers running loose who need a case? Worst of all – without any question are exhibit manufacturing companies, I&D, and realted vendors – selling to resellers or exhibitors. I’ve attended 2 shows this year (EXHIBITOR and TS2)coming away with the conclusiong this industry does the worst job of exhibting and marketing of all industry. groups. The very people who want you to use their material or service in a trade show haven’t a clue how to use a trade show. It’s not a few – it’s most of them. When you’ve made Studebakers all your life it’s hard to switch to ATV’s.
Great interview with BJ regarding drayage. It is my opinion that drayage is definitely hurting trade shows. The last statistic I read stated that approx. 16% of an exhibitors show service budget is spent on drayage. More importantly the practice of “bundling” drayage with a non exclusive service such as I&D labor is seriously hurting trade shows. This is the area that needs to be controlled by show organizers.
Exhibit providers are hard-pressed to meet strict budget requirements while incorporating the kinds of fees you discuss. The EDPA (Exhibit Designers + Producers Association) has taken on the whole issue of service contracting. Their position paper was first published in Exhibitor Online in November 2007 (http://www.exhibitoronline.com/news/enn-disploay.asp?counter=5615). EDPA continues to respond to this issue as the antithesis of an open market.
Drayage can add great deal to your exhibiting cost, I certainly agree, but how you combat the high cost of drayage is to lighten up your exhibit components. Using a smart and well experience exhibit fabricator such as http://www.eldsusa.com can certainly keep your cost lower. Most of the exhibitors that get hit with the high and unexpected cost are those that have not clue as to what their exhibit booth weight is. Building your booth with lighter material certainly helps
You also have to take in the lcoaiton of the show. Chicago is a union town, just expect pay more if exhibiting here.