Last updated: Oct 2025
As one of the nation’s leading event production companies, Shepard logistics handles a lot of freight. Our larger trade shows can involve the coordination of over 5 million pounds of materials, with many events ranging from 1 to 2 million pounds. For success at this scale, leaning on an experienced team to oversee the complex logistics of receiving, delivering, and loading out massive volumes of exhibit materials, heavy machinery, and equipment is absolutely critical.
In this guide, we share insights from Steve Margos, our Chief Operations Officer, and Raymond Williams, our Senior Vice President of Operations, who together bring over 30 years of hard-won industry experience to help you streamline your event logistics. Whether your event is relatively modest or one of the biggest events in your industry, this guide will help you to budget with confidence, avoid preventable mistakes, and provide an exceptionally smooth freight handling experience for your exhibitors.
We’ll start with an overview of the entire process, and then take a deeper dive into more advanced topics.
The 3 phases of trade show logistics: inbound shipping, material handling, and outbound shipping
The event logistics process has three major phases:
- Phase 1: Inbound Shipping – this entails getting all your freight to the venue on time. For those bigger shipments especially, you’ll want to plan this out well in advance. The earlier you can ship via consolidated transportation, the better rate you’ll likely get by maximizing use of truck space, fuel, and driver costs. Larger, more complex shows may have precise, “targeted” move-in times. Once your shipments arrive at the venue’s receiving docks, Phase 2 begins.
- Phase 2: Material Handling. This involves unloading everything from the trucks, storing empty crates, delivering booth materials to your space on the show floor, and eventually reloading it all after the event wraps.
- Phase 3: Outbound Shipping – the final phase is all about bringing that freight back home, or to the next venue location once the event is done. Properly planning each of these phases, from inbound transportation to material moving to outbound logistics, is crucial for a smooth, stress-free experience.
Pro tip: Your official service provider or general contractor will most likely have a preferred carrier that can streamline coordinating all these phases in the most cost-effective manner.
Case Study
PRINTING United Expo
Shepard is the go-to event producer and logistics expert for PRINTING UNITED Expo, the printing industry's premier global gathering. This year we managed over 4 million pounds of freight—including cutting-edge printing equipment, and custom exhibits.
Your top logistics questions, answered
Now that we’ve got the basics covered, let’s look at some of the most frequently asked questions from first-time exhibitors. (Scroll down to learn about how our all-inclusive material handling rate, which makes budgeting your event more straightforward by eliminating unexpected costs.)
- Where can I find material handling rates for my shipments?
- Where can I find the Material Handling Authorization (MHA) form?
- Where can I get material handling estimates, access my MHA form, and download shipping labels?
- Where can I find shipping addresses for my event?
- What do I need to do to ship my items back from the event?
- What is a marshaling yard?
- How can I receive a quote for outbound shipping?
- What if I need to ship my items outside of the US and Canada internationally?
- What happens if I receive a bill directly from the carrier?
- Are your rate quotes final and certain?
How Shepard’s all-inclusive material handling rate simplifies your budget
Budgeting for material handling used to involve weighing shipments and then receiving final bills with extra fees tacked on for minimums, special handling, marshaling yards and more. Shepard simplifies this with one straightforward per-pound rate that has no hidden fees. There’s no rounding up, no additional charges based on how your freight is packed or shipped. Our team handles all material management from truck to booth to reload.
Our all-inclusive material handling rate eliminates minimums, overtime, and special handling fees, allowing you to plan your budget with total confidence. With transparent, simple pricing, you can focus on other aspects of executing a successful event.
Simplify your trade show experience with Shepard logistics
When it comes to your company’s next trade show, don’t leave the critical logistics to chance. Let Shepard’s logistics experts ensure your next event runs smoothly from start to finish. Request a quote from to simplify your shipping and get everything in place for a successful event.
