Drayage originally meant "to transport by a sideless cart". In the late 20th century United States, "drayage" has become a term to describe various logistical services in the shipping industry.

Drayage service for the trade show display industry is where a large number of vendors gather in a large exhibition area with a large number of products. Because of the sheer volume of goods, it would create mass confusion if the individual vendors transported their own goods and equipment into the site. Convention centers and hotels do not have the facilities, equipment, or manpower to manage the receiving and storing of all the exhibit freight. Thus, the exhibit sponsor assigns and recommends a drayage service for the entering and exiting of freight and products.

Drayage service is usually provided by a national trucking/shipping company or an International shipment brokerage firm in addition to the transportation of the freight to and from the exhibit site.

Drayage is an extra cost that will added to the overall cost of your trade show display. Exhibitors are usually charged for each 100 lbs. of their inbound shipment and these charges vary.

Drayage can become an expensive issue when not planned for and can cut into your budget. At AIRworks, drayage is usually never an issue because our displays are shipped uncrated. We design our trade show displays this way to help fray costs.

Our truss display systems are created using lightweight anodized aluminum and collapse to 20% of the original size. This allows you to spend your budget dollars on designing the best trade show display without the added cost of drayage.