- 01. Use a trade show transportation specialist
- 02. Crating: rentable vs owned
- 03. Labels, BOL, and the marshaling yard
- 04. Freight insurance
Booth freight has its own ecosystem — exhibit transportation specialists, marshaling yards, certified carriers. Here's what you need to know before you ship.
Use a trade show transportation specialist
Not regular LTL. Specialists like CRATE/Yellowstone, TWI, and YRC's exhibit division understand marshaling yards, advance warehouse procedures, and time-critical delivery windows. Cost is 10–20% more than commercial freight but failure rate is dramatically lower.
Crating: rentable vs owned
Build-to-suit shipping crates for custom booths (one-time $1,500–$5,000 per crate). Rentable bins for rental booths (built into the rental quote). Never ship a custom booth in cardboard — drayage handling will destroy it.
Labels, BOL, and the marshaling yard
Show-specific shipping labels (downloaded from the exhibitor kit) plus your BOL. Marshaling yards (used by most major shows) check in trucks 24–48 hours before they're called to dock. Without correct labels, your truck gets bumped.
Tell us about your event, budget, and timeline. We'll line up vetted booth builders that fit — usually within 48 hours, no commitment.
Get matched with buildersFreight insurance
Always declare full replacement value. Standard liability is $0.50/lb — meaningless for a $40K booth. Specialist exhibit insurance runs 0.5–1% of declared value. Cheap relative to a damaged custom booth.
- Use exhibit freight specialists, not commercial LTL
- Build shipping crates for custom booths — never ship in cardboard
- Marshaling yards bump trucks with wrong labels
- Default carrier liability is $0.50/lb — declare full replacement value
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