Candy Adams, CTSM, CME, CEM, CMP, CMM, “The Booth Mom,” is an independent exhibit-management consultant, trainer, speaker, writer, and an Exhibitor conference faculty member. CandyAdams @BoothMom.com

e all know Murphy’s Law. But do you know Murphy’s Constant? It states, “Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value.”

This is especially true on the trade show floor. But though some accidents are unavoidable, your primary defense against damaged freight is to choose the appropriate shipping container for the size, weight, fragility, and durability of your shipment. You wouldn’t want to pad wrap a fragile neon sign, and a heavy, wooden crate is probably overkill for transporting a lightweight banner stand or pop-up exhibit.

The type of containers you use also depends on the type of carrier you use — a common carrier, van line, air freight, expedited truck, or small-package carrier. For example, only van-line carriers will ship blanket-wrapped freight; common carriers only transport crates and pallets that are floor loaded and can be moved using a forklift; and air-freight carriers restrict the size of your crates based on the size of the plane’s cargo hatch.

A few years ago, I learned (the hard way, of course) that San Diego’s passenger airport does not have a runway long enough for cargo planes. And passenger planes have limitations on the size of freight that will fit through their doorways, meaning my large computer cases had to be trucked from San Diego to Los Angeles where they could be placed on cargo planes for shipment.

The shipping containers you choose will affect storage, drayage, transportation, installation-and-dismantle labor, and refurbishing costs. So to help you make this mission-critical decision, here is a guide to the most common containers exhibitors use to transport exhibit components, including information about when to use each option, what types of carriers will ship them, and each option’s relative costs.


Wooden Crates

If you’re shipping a custom exhibit, you’ll probably want to invest in good, solid, wooden crates. When packed correctly, crates are one of the best ways to protect the contents of your shipment.

Crates usually have several optional features. You can choose to have your crates jigged, which means having custom partitions or fittings built in to separate and secure the contents. These jigs will help keep all of the crate’s contents securely in their place. But keep in mind that the price per crate will increase depending on the number and complexity of the jigs.

You can also opt for removable doors that are bolted on with wing nuts or screwed on with standard wood screws, or you can choose crates that have a hinged door with a hasp option for locking the crate.

Costs: A standard wooden crate (8 feet tall by 4 feet wide by 4 feet deep) will cost an estimated $1,000. These spendy crates are worth every penny if you’re shipping valuable exhibit properties. But keep in mind that the additional weight of the crates can also increase your shipping and material-handling costs.

Using wooden crates may also require you to pay overtime labor costs for the crew that dismantles your exhibit, because material handlers usually do not deliver empty wooden crates to your booth until after the aisle carpet is taken up and after they have delivered your accessible storage items, empty cartons, and rolling cases.

Carriers: Generally, any type of carrier will ship wooden crates. But the size of your crates affects your shipping costs, since most trailers are slightly more than 96 inches wide.

For example, if your crates are 48 inches wide, you can put two side by side. But if one is 48-by-48 inches and one is 56-by-56 inches, you will have to stack one in front of the other. Since van-line space is sold by the linear foot, running the 48- to 53-foot length of the trailer, you would, in this case, be charged for the empty space next to those crates.

Tips: If you are shipping internationally, be sure the wood has been treated to kill nematodes (parasitic worms) in the wood. You will need the paperwork that verifies this treatment to get your crates through customs.

Don’t skimp on the grade and thickness of your wood, and always get the best skids money will buy on the bottom of your crates, since they will take most of the abuse by the forks of the forklift or pallet jack.


D Containers

If crates are out of your price range, consider purchasing large, reusable cardboard boxes called D containers that you can assemble on wooden pallets. Ever since my transportation mentor, Mike Kropp, then president of First Choice Transportation, introduced me to them, they’ve become a regular part of my shipping repertoire. I use them for all my small stuff — computers, AV equipment, products, etc.

D containers consist of a pallet, a box top and bottom (think of a larger version of the lid on a box of copier paper), and two pieces of cardboard that make up the side walls. D containers are approximately 58-by-41-by-45 inches. When banded onto a pallet, they protect the shipment well and can be stacked in a van-line trailer on stacking bars, using the space in the top of your trailer to reduce the linear feet you’ll require.

The beauty of D containers is that they break down to the size of the lid and base for storage — about 12 inches tall. I can usually get three to four shipments’ use out of these before I need to toss the damaged parts and salvage and reuse the best pieces for future shipments.

Costs: D containers can be purchased from companies that sell packaging and boxes. They typically run between $50 and $100 apiece, depending on the quantity you order.

Carriers: All ground carriers will accept D containers since they are built on pallets and can be moved with a forklift.

Tips: Before purchasing D containers, check with your receiving department to see if it ever receives shipments in these containers. If so, ask to have them saved so you can reuse them and further reduce your costs.

To secure your D containers to their pallets, I recommend a portable strapping kit that comes with polypropylene strapping, buckle fasteners, and a cutter. These kits cost less than $50 and are definitely worth owning.


Blanket Wrap

Blanket wrapping, also known as pad wrapping, involves wrapping and taping each piece of your exhibit in moving blankets. Many exhibitors use blanket wrap because they need to spend their limited budget on the exhibit, not crates to ship it in that will never be seen by attendees.

Pad wrapping your freight is far less protective than crating it. So while using pad wrap is initially less expensive than building and storing crates, you are also incurring additional damage potential.

Costs: The up-front cost of your initial exhibit build will be lower if you aren’t building crates, but blanket-wrapped shipments fall under a different shipping-rate structure, since each piece of your exhibit must be wrapped individually. Your carrier will charge you for the materials (pad rental and tape) and labor required. If your exhibit consists of flat panels, your exhibit house may be able to stack your wall panels with foam pad, protect the corners with masonite, and band them on large pallets for shipment, avoiding the pad-wrap tariff and extra labor.

Carriers: Common carriers, generally the least expensive shipping option, will not carry loose blanket-wrapped freight. Van lines carry pad-wrapped shipments, but the service is usually more expensive than common carriers.

Tips: The general service contractor’s (GSC’s) advance warehouse does not accept pad-wrapped shipments, so any pad-wrap shipment will have to be delivered direct-to-site and cannot be stored in the GSC’s warehouse.

At the show destination, blanket-wrapped exhibits will be unloaded at the highest material-handling rate, moved to the perimeter of your booth, and unwrapped by your driver or I&D crew.

Depending on the arrangements made with the carrier, it may be the exhibitor’s responsibility to secure the shipping blankets during the show.

That can prove tricky, since these pads have a tendency to grow legs and walk away — and they are relatively expensive to replace. I have negotiated with my van-line carrier to put them in its warehouse; had my exhibitor appointed contractor (EAC) lock them up in its secure area of the exhibit hall; had them palletized, banded, and stretch wrapped, and paid to have them put into secure (accessible) storage; and even paid a driver to wait overnight after delivering our shipment, so we could unwrap our freight, fold the pads, and have him pick them up the next day.


Plastic Cases

If you have a portable or modular exhibit, your exhibit house will probably recommend that you purchase built-to-fit ABS molded plastic tubs or cases. This is a good idea, as they are designed for shipping that type of exhibit. Sizes vary from small, lightweight cases on wheels that aren’t much larger than a golf bag all the way up to 5-by-4-by-4-foot tubs for larger modular exhibits.

Costs: Plastic cases are usually included in the price of the package you’re quoted when purchasing portable or modular exhibits.

Carriers: All ground carriers transport plastic cases, although small-package carriers and airlines often have restrictions on size and weight.

Tips: Don’t assume that because your exhibit is called “portable” it will be easy to move when packed in its plastic cases. Although they usually have handles and small wheels, plastic cases are fairly heavy when full, ranging from 40 to hundreds of pounds.

Make sure the casters (wheels) on your crate are strong enough for the weight of your crate. Also, if the casters on your cases do not have brakes, you may want to replace them with brake-controlled casters. Exhibit-hall floors and docks are not necessarily flat, and you don’t want your case rolling away.


ATA Cases

The Air Transport Association (ATA) sets the standards for these heavy-duty cases. They are built to take abuse and avoid shock, vibration, and mishandling by shippers. They come in standard shapes, sizes, and colors; can be ordered with handles that retract, wheels, and locks; and can be customized with foam padding inside. You can also have custom cases built to your own specifications.

ATA cases provide maximum protection for items such as fragile monitors. They’re the container of choice for people who do AV, staging, lighting, sound, etc. because they can easily be moved without a forklift.

Costs: Prices vary with the size, quality, options, and level of customization, from a few hundred dollars to thousands.

Carriers: Most carriers should ship these cases, limited only by the size of the case. For example, many cases may be too large for passenger flights. So check with your air-freight carrier when you place your order to make sure your case is an acceptable size.

Tips: If you are going to be shipping your ATA cases internationally, make sure that the cases have combination locks on them. If your cases are locked with key locks and customs inspectors want to examine the contents of your cases, they’ll need to break the locks to get inside. However, if you use combination locks, your shipper can forward the combination to its customs clearance agents if necessary.


Plastic Tubs

Plastic tubs have snap-on lids and can be purchased at almost any discount retailer. They are fairly durable and waterproof. When not in use, these can be nested for space-saving storage.

Plastic tubs are great for organizing your supplies inside D containers or stacking on a pallet, but I don’t recommend shipping them individually, as I’ve seen many of them crack and break, especially in extremely cold weather conditions.

Another lightweight, plastic option is the Coroplast box. The name for this type of box comes from the words “corrugated plastic.” The containers that the U.S. Postal Service uses to sort and deliver mail are made from Coroplast. These boxes are best for lightweight freight, as they are just glued and stapled together. Do not use them for freight that will puncture the Coroplast material.

Costs: Plastic tubs and Coroplast boxes are less than $100 each. They are more expensive than cardboard boxes, but they tend to last longer. Cost varies by size, thickness, custom color, etc.

Carriers: Since they are not always stackable, some carriers may refuse to ship plastic containers.

Tips: Plastic containers usually come in several colors, and I like to color-code them for organizational purposes. For example, I put products in the blue ones, cabling in the red ones, and cleaning supplies in green ones.

Although plastic and Coroplast containers are available in many sizes, avoid using containers larger than two cubic feet. While they’re lightweight when empty, they’re heavy and difficult to lift when full.


Cardboard Boxes

If you are shipping cardboard boxes, be sure they are sturdy, in good shape, and taped well using strapping tape, Fiberglas-reinforced paper tape, or a good grade of clear shipping tape. The bottom seams of your boxes are the weakest points, so it’s important to tape them to avoid the bottoms ripping out.

Costs: Cardboard boxes are the least expensive shipping option, usually ranging from $3 to $15. They can be purchased at your local office-supply store or shipping outlet.

Carriers: Most carriers accept cardboard boxes. But if you’re shipping several boxes, consider putting them on a pallet as one shipment.

Tips: Be careful of over-filling your cardboard boxes to the point that they’re too heavy for a driver to easily pick up and load onto a truck. At the same time, fill them up to the top, since other freight may be stacked on top of them.

If there’s a lot of empty space between the top of your box and whatever’s packed inside, the tops will likely be crushed. Using packing material to fill any extra space will make your boxes less likely to be damaged during shipping.


Wooden Pallets

A pallet, also known as a skid, is a low wooden frame used to support heavy objects for easier handling. Pallets are a good way to protect smaller shipping containers such as cardboard or plastic containers, and blanket-wrapped freight. They consolidate your shipping containers and keep pieces from being separated. Pallets come in many sizes and strengths of wood.

Costs: Palletized freight is billed the same as crated freight when it comes to material-handling charges. It’s the cheapest way to go, since a forklift driver can just stick the forks of the forklift under your pallet and haul it to your booth space.

Carriers: All carriers typically ship palletized freight, although it may not fit on a passenger flight.

Tips: When loading your exhibit materials on a pallet, place the heaviest, most solid boxes on the bottom of the pallet. To prevent the boxes from shifting during transport, use metal or polypropylene banding. To further secure the freight, wrap the pallet’s load in stretch wrap.

If you do not want your cartons removed from your wooden pallet and shipped individually, place colorful labels on all four sides of the pallet that say, “Do not depalletize” or “Do not break down skid.” Carriers who are cramped for space will sometimes take boxes off pallets and stuff them in nooks and crannies to fill small empty spaces on their trucks.

Unfortunately, there is not a one-size-fits-all crate when it comes to exhibit shipments. But don’t overlook these important items or Murphy and his laws are likely to pay you a memorable visit. e