It was a warm day in July and I was sitting at a friend’s house enjoying the company. Things seemed to be going well when all of the sudden my phone started ringing. I decided that I should answer the call because it was an out of town area code. So upon answering the call I found on the other end our tech from a Skyline partner in the south. He was installing a simple 10×20 exhibit. I was a bit concerned to hear him on the phone because that normally means something is wrong. He had informed me that he spoke with our customer and they had a major problem. The exhibitor felt as though there exhibit was not set up to the proper configuration. There was one other configuration that the client had used once in

 As the sun set on the industry yet another day I find myself being so at peace with the tools that we have as a Skyline office and knowing that any answer I need is at my finger tips. I will close my eyes now and go to sleep knowing that we have succeeded at yet another feat   I look forward to the challenges of tomorrow and being able to be a leader in the industry is the perfect beginning of every day.

The tradeshow floor is a bustling place during the show for the exhibitor, but at the close of the show when the excitement dies down there are a few things that the exhibitor needs to have taken care of before they leave the show floor. Most importantly, Freight!

I recently rented some small exhibit properties to a customer exhibiting locally. They picked up the freight from our warehouse and took it to the exhibit hall, set it up, and when they were finished slapped the provided labels on the cases and then left. This sounds like it would have worked except for one thing, they did not turn in a bill of lading to the show! The show management companies require a bill of lading from the client in order for anyone to pick up and ship out show materials. This often gets overlooked by exhibitors with smaller properties who assume FedEx is going to pick up their cases from their booth space. For the most part, FedEx or UPS are not allowed on the show floor, and does not have the capabilities to have a driver wait in line to be loaded with your freight. So unless you plan on taking your exhibit cases to a FedEx drop off, they will remain at your booth space and at the end of the show be FORCED off the floor. This results in what is know as FORCED FREIGHT. Exactly what happen to my client.

Forced Freight is when a carrier does not check in on time, there is no bill of lading, or the cases are labeled with a carrier who is not allowed to pick them up from the show floor. The freight is then routed, or FORCED to the carrier being used by the show. The rates for FORCED freight are much higher than normal, and they will not release your freight, or deliver it until the bill is paid in full. This can screw up timelines as well as cost the exhibitor money, and the exhibitor can even have his exhibit wind up in another state if that is where the freight companies facility is.

In this case the freight did not end up in another state, but the freight bill was over 3 times what it would have normally been, and the properties were not received back at the warehouse for 3 weeks after the show. Avoid this at your next show, by simply asking for a bill of lading from your exhibiting company who can arrange the freight for you, or by asking for a blank bill of lading from the show and filling it out yourself. A few extra minutes on the show floor may save you a ton of money 3 weeks later.

I mention this all the time when it comes to exhibiting, but it needs repeating…it’s all about the details!