Skyline Exhibits

If your exhibit properties are damaged, lost, or stolen while on the road or in the custody of your carrier or the show general contractor, what would happen? Have you budgeted to replace them? Transit coverage provided by most carriers while freight is under their control is minimal, says David E. Lewis, president of Trade Show Transportation.

Lewis reports that drayage damage claims against a general contractor are almost never proven and paid. Read the fine print in your exhibitor services manual, he goes on to say, and you'll find that there is a maximum of $100 or less per item lost or damaged.

To cover your exhibit door-to-door, Lewis says, your best bet is to work with your corporate Risk Management Department to determine the value of what you are shipping to shows and the amount of deductible you're willing to pay in case of a claim.

He says an inexpensive insurance rider can usually be placed on your current corporate policy to cover your exhibit assets any time they're on the road.

Vulnerable on the road

Al Smith of O'Neil-United Van Lines says the main reason exhibit managers should look into insuring their exhibit properties is the extreme vulnerability of shipments traveling to and from trade shows.

When you consider the average cost of a new island exhibit is tens of thousands of dollars, insurance seems more a question of "What kind?" than "Use it or not?"

You can obtain insurance for your exhibit through two sources, notes Smith. You can obtain it through a corporate policy or a policy purchased through your transportation company.

1. Corporate policy

Most companies have their own insurance. Two questions to ask about your corporate policy are:

• Does the policy cover properties once they leave the premises?
• How much insurance coverage is there, and what is the deductible? Most corporate policies have huge deductibles (typically $5,000 or more), which in effect means the exhibitor is "self-insured" except for large losses.


2. Transportation company policy

You can also buy insurance through your transportation company:

• Most transportation companies offer "trip transit" coverage, which insures your shipment traveling to and from a show - but not once it's unloaded from the truck or on the show floor. However, if your corporate policy covers your exhibit properties at shows, you may opt for a trip transit policy. Typically, the premium is $3 per $1,000 of coverage.
• A more inclusive type of insurance that you can purchase through your transportation company is an "exhibition floater" policy. This policy covers your exhibit properties both in transit and while at shows. Typically the premium is $6 per $1,000 of coverage.
• Even if you don't purchase either of these policies, your shipment is automatically insured by your transportation company. This coverage is called "released value" or "limited liability" and is included in the basic transportation charge. However, the disadvantage to this is that the "released value" is typically far below the actual value of your shipment (as low as 60 cents per pound per article).