Trade-Show Merchandise Delivery Handoff Worksheet

A trade-show delivery plan needs two checkpoints: the shipment reaches the approved receiving point, and your team confirms the merchandise is available where it will be used.

Copy this worksheet into your working document. Complete one version for each destination, and share the relevant instructions with your supplier, carrier and on-site team. Mark unanswered fields “unconfirmed” and give each one an owner.

Use your event’s current exhibitor manual and written instructions from the organizer, venue or official service provider. This worksheet does not replace their shipping labels, required forms or receiving rules.

1. Confirm the destination and receiving window

Advance-warehouse and direct-to-show deliveries can have different receiving arrangements. Freeman’s exhibitor guide says warehouse shipments must fall within the event’s receiving window and direct-to-show freight should arrive during move-in hours. Confirm the exact rules for your show before giving the supplier an address.

  • Record: [event / order reference / version / last updated].
  • Exhibitor and booth: [company name / booth number / hall, if required].
  • Approved route: [advance warehouse / direct to show site / other confirmed receiving point].
  • Recipient and full delivery address: [copy the approved shipping instructions, including any required “care of” line].
  • Receiving window: [earliest accepted date / latest accepted date / daily hours / time zone].
  • Appointment or assigned delivery slot: [details / not required / unconfirmed].
  • Other receiving instructions: [dock or check-in location, carrier restrictions, required paperwork and handling arrangements].
  • Merchandise needed at the booth: [date / time / time zone / person who needs access].
  • Verification: [manual or instruction link / person confirming / date checked / unresolved questions and owner].

Keep the receiving deadline and the booth-ready deadline separate. Ask who moves the goods from the receiving point to your booth, how that service is arranged, and which charges remain unconfirmed.

2. Match the carton plan to the labels

GES’s exhibitor checklist recommends labeling every carton with the correct show name and booth number and keeping tracking references and carrier contact numbers available. Use the event’s required label format; an internal carton identifier is an extra reference, not a substitute.

  • Packing record: [product / total units / expected cartons / units in each carton / packing-list location].
  • Shipment details: [carton dimensions and weights, where confirmed / supplier contact / planned dispatch date].
  • Label check: [required label source / correct receiving address / event and booth details / person checking / date].
  • Carton identifier: [your reference, such as carton 1 of 4 / contents / matching tracking number when available].

Repeat the carton-identifier line for every carton. If the final carton count or destination changes, update the record and have the shipping instructions checked again before dispatch.

3. Track receipt through to the booth

Save the carrier’s delivery evidence, then confirm what the receiving team has actually processed. In its trade-show logistics guide, GES explains that a small-package delivery can be signed for before individual packages are scanned, sorted and moved to the booth. A carrier status alone therefore leaves a handoff to verify.

For each carton or shipment reference, complete:

  • In transit: [carrier / tracking or PRO number / current estimated arrival / checked at].
  • Carrier delivery: [recorded date, time and location / proof-of-delivery reference / recipient shown, if available].
  • Receiving confirmation: [receiving team or system / cartons confirmed / time / outstanding cartons].
  • Booth handoff: [cartons received / contents and units checked, or sealed cartons not yet checked / person confirming / time / visible damage or discrepancies / supporting photos or notes].

Keep the order open internally until the on-site owner confirms the expected merchandise is available, or records the remaining shortage and next action.

4. Name the exception owner before dispatch

  • Main and backup on-site contacts: [names / business phone numbers / availability].
  • Carrier and receiving-service contacts: [business phone numbers / after-hours route, if provided].
  • Escalation trigger: [missed agreed milestone, missing carton or delivery exception / person who checks / time to act].
  • Next action: [who contacts whom / decision needed / next update due].
  • Contingency approval: [who can approve a changed destination, replacement plan or extra charge].

If a delivery exception appears, confirm the available options with the carrier and receiving service. Recheck the receiving rules before changing the route; a venue address is not automatically an approved backup destination.

For the earlier approval, production and freight milestones, use Exposilo’s promotional product lead-time guide.

Prepared for Exposilo with AI assistance.

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