The dispatch deadline in Poland is calculated backwards from the hour the load has to be on site, through unloading, the queue, the crossing, customs and driving time. Missing a fair delivery differs from an ordinary late delivery in one respect: it cannot be made good the next day. Once the build-up window closes the gate stops taking goods, and the show opens without your exhibit.
How we set the dispatch deadline
The sequence is always the same and always runs from the end. We start with the hour the load has to be ready on the stand, subtract unloading and movement inside the hall, then the wait to be called from the marshalling yard, then the local approach, the Channel crossing, border formalities and driving time from Poland including the driver's breaks. Only at the end does the date and hour emerge at which the load must leave the shipper's warehouse. The method is set out in full in the build-up and breakdown calendar.
Consolidated freight adds one more element. Groupage waits for the next scheduled line departure, so the departure date is set by the schedule rather than by the exhibitor. That is usually the biggest difference between groupage and a dedicated vehicle on fair deliveries, and the main reason we choose a dedicated movement when the timing is tight.
Contingency: how much, and for what
There is no single figure, because contingency depends on the route, the season, the venue and whether the load crosses a customs border. What it is spent on can be listed: the queue at the gate, border checks, weather and disrupted crossings, and correcting a document when the description of the goods turns out not to match across declarations. Each of those is short on its own, but they meet at the same point and accumulate.
The rule we apply in practice: where the exhibit is central to the exhibitor's presence, we plan arrival for an earlier build-up day than the minimum implies, and the load spends the difference in a facility near the venue rather than on the road. That costs less than a failed entry.
What happens when the load does not make it
In this order. First the vehicle is not called forward from the yard, because the window has closed. Then somewhere has to be found for the load, because the hall will not take goods outside the window and is not a warehouse. Then comes the question of delivery during the show itself, which venues permit rarely, usually outside opening hours and with the organiser's consent. Last comes the worst option: the exhibit goes back, or waits until breakdown, and the stand runs without it.
The financial consequences are scattered, and that is their most unpleasant feature. Vehicle standing costs, storage off site, the cost of an extra run in an out-of-hours delivery window, and at strictly regulated events also whatever follows from the space contract. We will not quote rates or penalties here, because organisers set them separately for each event. That is something to read in the contract before signing it.
Who answers for what when a delivery is late
A carrier's liability for delay in international carriage has its own limits and its own notification procedure, set out in the CMR Convention. It does not automatically cover reputational loss or costs the exhibitor incurs towards the organiser. So where a missing item genuinely wrecks participation, the conversation about contingency matters more than the conversation about liability. The division of roles is in who is responsible for what at a trade fair, and the limits of cover in exhibit insurance at fairs.
The most common causes of delay that can be removed
The first is inconsistent paperwork. If the description of the goods, the weight or the number of packages differ between the export declaration, the import declaration and the consignment note, the load goes for clarification, and clarification takes hours. The second is handing over customs data too late: a document prepared the day before departure leaves no room for correction. The third is dispatching on the last possible date, which is a plan without contingency. The fourth is not confirming the build-up window, so the whole calculation runs from the wrong hour.
All four sit in the preparation, not on the road. That is good news, because it means they can be removed at no cost. Documentary requirements on runs to Britain are collected in border procedures.
What to do once you know it will be tight
Say so immediately, not on the day of delivery. While there is time, real options remain: a dedicated movement instead of groupage, splitting the load into the critical part and the rest, dispatching some exhibits early into a buffer near the venue, or moving the entry day within the build-up window. Each of those costs less than a delivery that never got in. The buffer on the Polish side is described in the buffer warehouse next to Targi Kielce, and on the British side the role is played by our Milton Keynes warehouse.
Sources
- GOV.UK: get a goods movement reference
- GOV.UK: drivers' hours
- GOV.UK: customs declarations for goods taken out of the EU
Facing a tight run-up to build-up? Send the date and hour the load has to be on the stand through the quotation form and we will calculate the dispatch deadline backwards and show where the plan has no contingency. The scope is on our exhibition logistics page.
