What Is Drayage? Why Your Trade Show Shipping Bill Doubled
Short answer: drayage, also called material handling, is the show contractor's fee for moving your freight from the loading dock to your booth, storing your empty cases, and bringing everything back to the dock after the show. It's billed separately from shipping, usually per 100 lb with a 200 lb minimum per shipment, so several small boxes can cost more than one heavy case. To keep it down, ship everything together in hard cases, meet the deadlines, or hand carry a portable display.
Every few weeks someone calls us after a show with the same question. They shipped a banner stand and a small pop-up in two cases, paid FedEx about what they expected, and then got a separate invoice from the show contractor for several hundred dollars more. That second bill is drayage, and it surprises almost every first-time exhibitor.
What drayage covers
Drayage and material handling mean the same thing. It's charged by the show's general service contractor (GSC), usually Freeman, GES or a regional decorator, and they're the only company allowed to move freight on the show floor. Your drayage charge typically covers:
- Unloading your freight at the advance warehouse or the show's loading dock
- Storing it at the warehouse until move-in, if you shipped there
- Delivering it to your booth space
- Storing your empty cases and crates during the show and returning them for packing
- Moving it back to the dock and loading it onto your outbound carrier
That's why it's billed separately from shipping, and why you pay it even if the shipping was free.
How drayage is billed
Most shows bill material handling by the hundredweight, written CWT, which simply means per 100 pounds. Three rules turn a small shipment into a big bill:
- Minimums. A 200 lb minimum per shipment is common. A 40 lb banner stand case gets billed as 200 lb.
- Rounding up. Weight is rounded up to the next 100 lb. A 408 lb shipment is billed as 500 lb.
- Every shipment stands alone. Five boxes that arrive on five different tracking numbers can each be charged the minimum. The same five boxes on one bill of lading are one shipment.
How your freight is packed matters too. Crated freight and hard cases get the lowest rate because they're easy to stack and move. Loose, pad-wrapped or awkward items fall into "uncrated" or "special handling" categories that cost more, and if a mixed load is mostly uncrated, the whole shipment can be billed at the higher rate.
Some shows have moved to simpler per-pound pricing with no minimums, so read the material handling form for your show. Either way, it isn't cheap and it keeps going up. The Exhibitor Advocate's 2025 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates found base material handling rates averaged $2.28 per pound, up 9.5% in one year and 21.3% since 2022.
Advance warehouse vs. direct to show site
Your exhibitor services kit will give you two shipping addresses: the advance warehouse and the show site. Here's how they compare.
| Advance warehouse | Direct to show site | |
|---|---|---|
| When it can arrive | A window that usually opens about 30 days before the show and closes a few days before move-in | Only on your assigned move-in date and time |
| Drayage rate | Often the same as direct, and slightly higher at some shows | The same or slightly lower |
| What's accepted | Crates, cases, cartons and pallets. Pad-wrapped freight usually isn't accepted. | Almost anything, including pad-wrapped freight |
| When it's in your booth | Often waiting in your booth when you arrive | After the truck clears the marshaling yard and gets unloaded |
| Biggest risk | Missing the warehouse deadline, which adds a late surcharge | A delivery that's late, early or stuck in line on move-in day |
Advance warehouse: A window that usually opens about 30 days before the show and closes a few days before move-in
Direct to show site: Only on your assigned move-in date and time
Advance warehouse: Often the same as direct, and slightly higher at some shows
Direct to show site: The same or slightly lower
Advance warehouse: Crates, cases, cartons and pallets. Pad-wrapped freight usually isn't accepted.
Direct to show site: Almost anything, including pad-wrapped freight
Advance warehouse: Often waiting in your booth when you arrive
Direct to show site: After the truck clears the marshaling yard and gets unloaded
Advance warehouse: Missing the warehouse deadline, which adds a late surcharge
Direct to show site: A delivery that's late, early or stuck in line on move-in day
Does the advance warehouse cost more? Usually not by much. Many shows charge one rate no matter where you ship, especially shows that have switched to per-pound pricing. At some shows the warehouse rate is slightly higher to cover the extra handling and storage. Check the material handling form in your kit; a few shows also require one option or the other.
Why we recommend the advance warehouse
We almost always tell customers to ship to the advance warehouse, and the biggest reason is time. The warehouse accepts freight over a window of several weeks. A direct shipment has to land on your exact move-in date and time, and there's very little room for a weather delay, a missed scan or a truck stuck in line at the marshaling yard.
That matters even more for a 10 x 10 or 10 x 20 booth that ships in a few cases by FedEx or UPS. Parcel carriers can't deliver to a specific move-in time slot, and a box that shows up before the dock is accepting freight can be refused or delayed. Ship to the warehouse and your display is usually sitting in your booth when you walk in. Even at shows where the warehouse rate is slightly higher, the longer window is worth it.
Direct to show makes more sense when you're sending a truck or a freight carrier that can hit an exact time, when your freight is pad-wrapped, or when you've missed the warehouse deadline. You can also split it: send the display and flooring to the warehouse, and ship literature and giveaways direct.
Skip drayage completely: hand carry
Most venues let exhibitors carry their own materials in through the front door with no drayage charge, as long as it's done by your own staff without help from the show's equipment. The rules vary a lot. Some venues allow personal luggage carts or pop-up cases with built-in wheels. Others, like the Las Vegas Convention Center at many shows, require you to carry it without any dolly. Check the hand-carry rules in your kit before you count on it.
This is one of the biggest reasons portable displays have taken over the 10 x 10 market. A tension fabric tube display, pop-up display or banner stand that packs into a rolling case can often go from your car to your booth in one trip.
Seven ways to lower your drayage bill
- Ship everything together. One shipment on one bill of lading avoids paying the minimum over and over.
- Use hard cases. Cases and crates qualify for the lowest rate category. Boxes wrapped in moving blankets don't.
- Meet the deadlines. Freight that arrives outside the warehouse window or after your target time usually costs more per CWT.
- Weigh it before it leaves. Know your actual weight and keep the carrier's weight ticket so you can check the invoice.
- Label every piece. Use the show's labels with your company name, booth number and piece count (1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3).
- File your outbound paperwork. If you don't turn in your outbound bill of lading, the contractor can ship your freight back on their carrier and bill you for it.
- Go lighter. Fabric graphics and aluminum frames weigh a fraction of older panel displays, and lighter freight costs less to ship and to handle.
Watch your case size too. Drayage is billed by weight, but FedEx and UPS now charge extra for large boxes. Read why your case may suddenly be "oversize" before you pick a case.
Portable displays that keep drayage down
Swipe to see more →
EcoTube 10ft Straight Tension Fabric Display
A fabric graphic on a lightweight aluminum tube frame. Simple to assemble and easy to ship.
View the EcoTube
Associate Retractable Banner Stand
A retractable banner stand with a compact base. Up to three fit in one Slip n' Ship Banner Stand Case.
View the banner stand
Backlit 10ft Hopup Display
A backlit fabric display on an accordion-style frame. A hard shipping case is included.
View the HopupBrowse our trade show shipping cases, or see the shipping case buyer's guide.
Common questions
What happens to my empty cases during the show?
Once you've unpacked, put "empty" labels from the service desk on each case. The contractor stores them and brings them back after the show closes. At large shows the return can take a few hours, so plan your teardown and outbound pickup around it.
What is a marshaling yard?
It's a lot near the venue where trucks check in and wait to be called to the loading dock. Drivers can wait for hours on a busy move-in day, and some carriers bill for that waiting time.
Can I ship my display to my hotel instead?
Sometimes, for small parcels. Many hotels charge a handling fee for each package, and you still have to follow the show's hand-carry rules to get it onto the floor. Call the hotel first to ask about the fee and how long they'll hold a package.
Questions about shipping your display?
We've been shipping trade show displays to convention centers across the country since 1998. If you're not sure how to pack your booth or where to ship it, we can help.
Sources: The Exhibitor Advocate, 2025 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates (via Exhibit City News); Freeman per-pound material handling model; Freeman and GES exhibitor material handling forms.
