Shipping display kits interstate: courier, freight or the venue?

Three ways to move a display kit: courier, general freight, show logistics

Most interstate event logistics in Australia comes down to three choices.

Courier. Suits portable displays that pack into bags, tubes and wheeled cases: banner stands, flags, a pop-up wall, a counter. You book door to door, track each item and pay largely by size and weight. The catch is control at the far end. A courier arrives on its own run, and at venues that need a stand representative to receive goods, nobody there means no delivery.

General freight. Suits larger modular stands, crated plinths and anything on a pallet. Line-haul freight is built for volume, but it usually needs a forklift or pallet jack at both ends and a booked delivery time. Ask whether the price includes a tail-lift truck, because at some venues your own team must accept and handle the freight on the dock.

Show logistics. Organisers often appoint a freight forwarder for the event, and some venues run their own in-house logistics team. They know the dock schedule and can receive, store and move goods to your stand space. You pay for that convenience, and at some docks it is compulsory. At Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre's Administration Loading Dock, for example, the venue's own logistics team "is the exclusive supplier of freight logistics services" and must be booked through the organiser.

A fourth option is to drive the kit in yourself. That gives you full control for a local show, but check the dock rules first. At ICC Sydney, for example, an exhibitor's self-delivery or courier delivery must be booked in the venue's Loading Dock Management System for the day of move-in, and a car or van can stay on the dock for a maximum of 15 minutes.

Courier, freight or show logistics compared

Perth, Darwin and regional venues: transit times and buffers

The longer the route, the less room to recover a missed connection. For a show in Perth, Darwin or a regional centre, ask the carrier for its published transit time for that exact route, confirm whether the service travels by road or air, and add a buffer of at least one business day on top. Avoid weekend arrivals, because a delayed consignment can then sit in a depot until Monday.

Early arrival is not a safe fallback either. Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre says access to deliver goods "is only available during the official MOVE IN PERIOD of the event". Freight that reaches Perth a week early needs somewhere to wait, which usually means the show forwarder's warehouse or your carrier's depot, booked in advance. The same notice warns that items not collected within the official move-out period "will be disposed of, or additional charges for storage and handling will be incurred".

For interstate roadshows, return the kit to one base between legs or build a clear buffer into each leg. Going straight from one pack-down to the next move-in leaves no time to repair or reprint anything.

Packing for each option: cases, pallets and roll tubes

How the kit is packed should match how it will travel.

• Courier: use rigid or padded cases with handles. A wheeled carry case, such as the one we supply for the SuperWall, lets one person roll the wall from the vehicle to the stand and keeps it protected in storage. Long items like flag poles travel best in their own padded bags.
• General freight: shrink-wrap and strap everything to the pallet, and protect corners. Fragile pieces such as acrylic plinths or illuminated panels need a fitted road case or crate.
• Roll tubes: for spare or replacement fabric graphics, a strong tube keeps the print clean and crease-free.

Record the packed dimensions, weight and case count for every item, and photograph the packed configuration so the return pack matches. Check the largest packed item against doors, lifts, vehicles and storage areas, not only against the stand space.

Two more rules:

1. Keep a hand-carry bag. Tools, cable ties, spare fixings, the floor plan, the setup sequence and the exhibitor manual should travel with your team, not inside the main shipment.
2. Declare anything with a battery. CASA lists lithium batteries and battery-powered equipment as Class 9 dangerous goods, and aerosols as Class 2. It also says all dangerous goods shipped as cargo need a Shipper's Declaration, and that people packing them "must be appropriately qualified to do so". If your kit includes tablets, power banks, battery-powered lights or aerosol cleaners, tell the carrier before booking. These CASA rules cover air cargo, so if the kit goes by road, ask the carrier which rules apply to that service.

Delivery to the venue: labels, dock windows and who receives

Venues set their own receiving rules, so read the exhibitor manual before you book anything. Three common rules catch people out:

• Someone has to be there. Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) says deliveries must be "received on-site by an exhibitor stand representative" and that it is "unable to sign possession of goods on your behalf". Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre staff "WILL NOT SIGN for any deliveries", so arrange an authority to leave without a signature. In its Pavilion and Theatre docks, your representative must also be there to accept and handle the freight, unless you pay PCEC Logistics to do it.
• The label must be the venue's or the organiser's label. At MCEC, the correct delivery label is supplied by the event organiser. Avoid vague labels such as "marketing equipment". Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre's delivery notice, for example, asks for the event name and date, stand number, and the on-site exhibitor's name and number, so put those on every item.
• Pack-down rules differ from delivery rules. At ICC Sydney, materials not pre-organised for storage or porterage "will be disposed of at the conclusion of tenancy", and the venue warns that "most couriers do not operate on weekends or after 1700". Book the return collection before you leave for the show.

Storing kits between events

Keep each kit in its own cases with a written contents list. After each event, inspect the graphics, fixings, feet, leads and work surfaces before the kit goes into storage. Note missing parts straight away and reorder graphics well before the next show.

If you run several shows a year, consider handing storage to us. Our event logistics and storage service keeps kits in our secure warehouses. Every item is logged on arrival, checked for wear, repaired if needed and cleaned, so it is ready for the next event. When you need a kit, you send us a booking and we despatch it to the right show.

When to hand logistics to your display supplier

Handing over logistics makes sense when:

• you are running a roadshow or a series of trade shows around the country, where we can also install and pack down the stand at each stop
• your stand team flies in on the morning of move-in and can't wait on a dock for freight
• the kit is stored with us between shows, so it can be despatched straight from storage
• the campaign also runs in New Zealand, where our trans-Tasman campaign execution service runs campaigns alongside our sister business in Auckland

We book and manage the carriers for you, using logistics companies we work with in Australia and New Zealand. For a smaller program, a portable exhibition kit keeps the whole stand in one co-ordinated, lightweight package, which keeps courier handling simple.

If you order products for delivery, check our deliveries policy. We deliver to the address on your tax invoice unless you tell us otherwise, and products are generally not insured against loss in transit, so check your own cover if the kit is valuable. Allow time before the show to unpack and check everything.

Common event logistics mistakes to avoid

• Booking freight before confirming the venue's move-in and move-out windows
• Sending every tool and document inside the main shipment
• Using vague labels instead of the venue's or organiser's delivery label
• Assuming collection after the show follows the same rules as delivery
• Leaving no one on the dock to receive the goods

Next step

Send us your show dates, venues and a list of what needs to travel, and we'll suggest the simplest way to get your kit there and back. Ask us about event logistics and storage so your kit is at the venue when you are, or call 1300 240 250.