What’s the Difference Between Freight Charges and Material Handling at Trade Shows?

If you’ve ever planned a trade show booth, you’ve likely encountered two terms that seem similar but play very different roles in your budget: freight charges and material handling. Understanding the difference between the two is crucial — not just to avoid surprise costs, but also to streamline your logistics.

Let’s break it down:

🚚 Freight Charges: Getting Your Materials To the Venue

Freight refers to the transportation of your exhibit materials from your origin (office, warehouse, or vendor) to the trade show venue.

This includes:

• Pickup from your location
• Transportation via truck, air, or ocean
• Delivery to the advance warehouse or directly to the show site

You can choose any shipping provider for this part — your own carrier, a third-party logistics partner, or even the official show carrier (though you’re not required to use them). You’re paying for the movement of goods across distances.

💡 Think of it like hiring a moving truck to deliver your furniture to a new apartment.

🏗 Material Handling: What Happens At the Show

Once your freight arrives at the venue (or advance warehouse), material handling takes over.

This is a service provided exclusively by the show’s general contractor (like Freeman or GES), and you don’t get to shop around — it’s non-negotiable and billed separately from your freight.

Material handling includes:

• Receiving your freight at the dock or advance warehouse
• Transporting it to your booth
• Storing empty crates or boxes during the show
• Returning your empties after the show
• Loading outbound freight after the event

💡 It’s like the airline requiring you to give your checked bags to the crew, they are the only people allowed to load cargo onto a plane. 

🔍 Why It Matters

Many exhibitors are surprised to see both freight and material handling on their invoice — and often confuse the two. Here’s why you should care:

• You could save on freight by choosing your own carrier or consolidating shipments.
• You can’t skip material handling, but you can reduce the cost by minimizing weight, avoiding late shipments, and using recommended labeling and packaging practices.
• Knowing the difference helps you budget better and avoid double-paying for what seems like the same service.

✅ Quick Recap

Need Help Simplifying Trade Show Shipping?

At Ark Transportation, we help exhibitors take the guesswork out of freight and material handling. From navigating advance warehouse deadlines to planning cost-effective shipments, we make sure your booth gets there — and gets set up — without the drama.

👉 Let’s talk about your next show.