Wholesale Matters

Being your own freight provider

The continuation of last week's discussion of drayage... today, driving your booth to a show.

If you live within a reasonable distance of a show and have access to a truck, minivan, SUV or trailer, driving is often an affordable alternative to shipping your work. Plus, having a vehicle at the show gives you a wider array of choices when it comes to housing.

It may seem simple (and inexpensive) to drive yourself, but be sure to ask show management what their policies are for personally-operated vehicles (called POVs).

At some buildings, union rules require you to pay for labor to unload and load your car (drayage).

Other venues will allow you to do so yourself at no charge, but only if you are in an automobile that falls under the technical definition of POV - a personal vehicle (no trailers, rental trucks, etc.). In cases such as this, you will usually also have the option of hiring "valet service," or paying labor to unload your car. Valet service can be offered separately for move-in and move-out. Bear in mind that move-in is generally staggered, so your wait will be shorter than at move-out when everyone leaves at the same time.

At the Buyers Market, exhibitors may unload their vehicles themselves at no charge. All exhibitors who need access to the loading dock are provided with a move-in pass. The pass includes the exhibitor's move-in date and time, which is when they can access the dock. Each exhibitor is given forty minutes to unload their car into their booth space, then remove their car from the dock. As at most shows, dollys and hand trucks are NOT provided, so you'll need to bring your own. 

Remember, all shows have different rules regarding POVs -- be sure to ask ahead of time so you're not surprised by an unexpected drayage bill.

What is drayage and how do you avoid it?

Shipping your work to and from shows can be a confusing (and expensive) proposition. Within the past week, I've answered questions from new and veteran shippers alike: Why did my freight cost so much? How do I get my booth from one show to another? Do I have to pay someone to unload my own car?

In future postings, I'll address all of these questions, but for today, we're going to talk drayage.

Drayage, or material handling, is the cost you pay to have your freight (crate, boxes, pallet) moved from the loading dock to your booth and back. In some cases, your drayage charge can be equal to what you paid to get your freight to the show in the first place, so it is vitally important that you pay attention to what your drayage charges could be and how you can minimize them.

Material handling fees are typically outlined in your exhibitor kit. Generally, they are charged by the show's general services contractor, or decorator, and are based on the weight of your shipment.

The assessment of drayage varies from show to show:

Free drayage or drayage included
In some buildings, drayage is charged not only for items that were shipped, but also applies when you bring your booth and product in your own car. In this case, many shows will simply increase the booth fee to cover the drayage so that everyone isn't charged for it separately.

Free drayage with preferred shipper
At other shows, those who drive their own cars may unload them at no charge and drayage is only assessed for those who ship their work. In cases such as these, it is often unfair to raise EVERYONE'S booth fee to cover drayage when it only applies to a small percentage of exhibitors. Show management will usually offer a "preferred shipper" (typically affiliated with the show decorator); ship in and out of the show with this company and you will not be assessed drayage fees (though you will probably pay slightly more for shipping). If you choose to use a different freight company, you will be charged the material handling fees outlined in your exhibitor kit.

No drayage included
In some rare instances, no aspect of drayage is covered by your booth fee. Regardless of who you ship with, you will be charged the material handling fee. In these cases, it is vital that you are acutely aware of the weight of your shipment and what fees you will be assessed. Keep your weight to a minimum.

Other things to be aware of:

If you are shipping from one show to another, you'll need to determine in which direction you will be charged the larger drayage fee. If ABC Freight is the preferred shipper for Show #1, and your drayage is free if you ship in and out of the show with them, but XYZ Shipping is the preferred shipper for Show #2 under the same circumstances, you will pay drayage at either Show #1 or Show #2 if you go directly from one to the other. Determine which show has the lower rates and ship accordingly.

It pays to shop around. In some instances, even if a show has a preferred shipper with no drayage fees, you may be able to find a competing shipping company whose rates are so much lower that even with paying drayage, your shipment will be less expensive than using the preferred shipper. At the very least, take the competing price quote to the preferred shipper and see if they can come close to matching it.   

Shipping savings

There's a very useful post about packing artwork for shipping on the Artist, Emerging blog from yesterday.

Shipping to and from shows is often the most expensive aspect of doing a show, whether wholesale or retail. The past few months have been an education in freight for me, as I work with our show decorator to simplify the charges related to shipping and handling of materials to and from artists' booths (commonly known as drayage).

Some tips for saving money on freight:

- Explore all your options. It takes some time, but you should be aware of the cost difference between driving (gas, tolls, hotels on the road, parking, and labor to load and unload your car, depending on the venue), shipping with the show's freight provider, or using an outside carrier.

- Share storage. Two exhibitors at our show load both their booths into one crate, which then goes to storage until the next show. They split the monthly storage fee, and are only charged handling for one item instead of two.

- Get an accurate weight. Many artists are unpleasantly surprised when they are given a phone estimate for a shipment that they believe weighs "about 400 pounds," only to discover that it actually weighed 600 pounds. Provide your shipper detailed and accurate information about your shipment to avoid sticker shock.

- Combine resources. If you need to ship long distances (west coast to east, for example), inquire whether or not your shipper can consolidate shipping with other exhibitors in your vicinity. For our February show, our freight company will be calling each of our west coast exhibitors to see if they want to participate in a program that will pick up their freight from their studios, bring it to a central consolidation point (probably in Arizona), then combine all that freight onto one truck for the trip to Philadelphia. It requires some coordination and delicate timing on the part of your freight provider, but can save everyone money (and is definitely better for the environment than having ten separate trucks driving cross country).