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How to Read a Trade Show Exhibitor Manual: The 12 Line Items That Will Blow Your Budget

The all-in cost of a trade show booth includes booth construction or rental, plus exhibitor manual charges for drayage, electrical, I&D labor, carpet, furniture, internet, and lead retrieval. For a 20×20 island booth at a major show like CES or HIMSS, total all-in costs commonly range from $28,000 to $75,000 depending on the venue, city, and services ordered. For a full breakdown of what drives these numbers, see our guide to trade show booth rental cost.

What Is a Trade Show Exhibitor Manual?

The exhibitor manual — also called the exhibitor services kit or EAC manual — is produced jointly: the show organizer sets the regulations, and the official show contractor (Freeman, GES, or Fern Expositions) builds and distributes the services-and-pricing section. Every show uses one of these documents; the terminology varies, but the financial exposure does not.

Most manuals drop 90–120 days before show open. Freeman’s CES manual for the Las Vegas Convention Center typically lands in late September for a January show. Pack Expo manuals for McCormick Place in Chicago usually arrive by late July. The document governs ordering deadlines, union labor jurisdiction rules, booth regulation compliance, dray zones, and exclusive versus non-exclusive services. (I’ve received manuals that were 118 pages for a 10×10 inline — nine pages of which were devoted to drayage rates alone.)

The sections that apply to your exhibit depend on your booth’s square footage: a 10×10 inline (100 sq ft) triggers different labor and rigging rules than a 20×20 island (400 sq ft). Know your size tier before you open to page one.

The 12 Line Items That Will Blow Your Budget

1. Drayage (Material Handling)

Drayage is the fee a show contractor charges to transport your freight from the venue’s loading dock to your assigned booth space. It is billed by hundredweight (CWT) — meaning per 100 lbs — and at venues like LVCC and McCormick Place, rates run $110 to $250 per CWT, making it one of the single largest surprise costs in any exhibitor manual.

“Drayage — also called material handling — is the fee show contractors charge to move your freight from the loading dock to your booth space. At major convention centers like McCormick Place and LVCC, drayage runs $110 to $250 per hundredweight (CWT), meaning a standard 20×20 crate shipment weighing 1,500–2,000 lbs can generate $1,800 to $4,500 in handling fees before a single booth component is installed.”

The CWT math hits hard on a large exhibit: a standard crate for a 20×20 island booth typically weighs 1,500–2,000 lbs — that’s 15–20 CWT at $110–$250 per unit. Overtime drayage — freight arriving after 5pm weekdays or anytime Saturday and Sunday — triggers a 25–50% surcharge on top of straight-time rates. At CES, LVCC move-in days run long; first-timers who book late carrier delivery windows get hit here consistently. Freeman handles drayage at CES and Pack Expo; GES manages it at HIMSS across its Las Vegas, Orlando, and Chicago rotation; Fern Expositions covers Natural Products Expo West at the Anaheim Convention Center.

2. Electrical

A single 20-amp circuit — the minimum draw for a laptop and a monitor — runs $180–$420 depending on the show contractor and venue. A 20×20 island booth with LED lightboxes, monitors, and demo stations routinely draws $1,500–$6,000 or more in electrical orders. Freeman is the electrical contractor at most major shows including CES at LVCC and Pack Expo at McCormick Place. Late electrical orders — anything placed after the advance deadline — carry a 25–35% surcharge; on a $4,000 electrical order, that’s $1,000–$1,400 in entirely avoidable overage. One important operational reality: electrical must always be ordered through the official show contractor. No rental vendor, including Pure Exhibits, can bundle it — and that is true across every major U.S. venue.

3. Installation & Dismantle (I&D) Labor

Union labor rates in Chicago at McCormick Place bill at $125–$185 per hour straight time. Las Vegas rates are more favorable at $95–$145 per hour straight time — a meaningful difference when you’re running a complex exhibit across multiple build days.

“Union labor at McCormick Place in Chicago bills at $125–$185 per hour straight time and $190–$275 per hour for overtime — which applies after 5pm weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday. A 20×20 custom island booth typically requires 16 to 40 labor hours to install and dismantle, making overtime scheduling one of the most expensive decisions an exhibitor makes.”

Minimum call time is typically 4 hours per worker even for small jobs — a one-hour task at McCormick Place costs a minimum of $500–$740 per laborer at straight-time rates. At Pack Expo in November, exhibitors who push dismantle into Sunday get charged double-time. (I’ve watched a 20×20 dismantle run four hours over estimate on a Sunday at Pack Expo — that single miscalculation added $3,200 to the invoice.) For custom trade show booth rentals that bundle I&D labor into a fixed price, that overtime risk transfers to the vendor, not the exhibitor.

4. Carpet and Flooring

Inline booths — 10×10 and 10×20 configurations — are often required by show rules to have carpet; it is not optional. Show contractor carpet runs $2–$5 per sq ft for rental. A 20×20 space at $3.50 per sq ft equals $1,400 in carpet rental alone, before padding adds another $0.75–$1.25 per sq ft. At HIMSS — which rotates between Las Vegas, Orlando, and Chicago — carpet is mandatory for all booth sizes. Custom flooring (raised platforms, vinyl plank, wood grain) is an upgrade your exhibit vendor can often provide, bypassing the show contractor’s rental markup entirely.

5–6. Furniture and Lead Retrieval

Show contractor furniture carries a 2–4x markup versus retail: a $300 counter becomes a $600–$900 rental on the show floor, plus delivery fees. For inline booths vs. island exhibits, the furniture exposure differs significantly — islands require more seating and demo surfaces, multiplying the cost. Lead retrieval scanners are controlled exclusively by the show organizer; no third-party vendor can substitute. Cost runs $400–$900 per device per show. At HIMSS and CES, where traffic volume is high, most exhibitors rent 2–4 devices per booth. Select furniture pieces can be bundled through your exhibit rental vendor. Lead retrieval cannot — that revenue belongs to the organizer.

7. Internet and WiFi

Internet is the most consistently complained-about line item among veteran exhibitors. A single wired drop runs $500–$3,500 depending on bandwidth tier and venue. LVCC and McCormick Place actively suppress cellular signals in exhibit halls to protect internet revenue — this is not accidental infrastructure, it is a deliberate policy. Dedicated WiFi for a 20×20 booth requiring reliable demo connectivity can run $1,500–$3,500 at CES at LVCC in January or at MODEX at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Internet is an exclusive service at every major U.S. venue — it must be ordered through the official show venue or contractor, and no exhibit vendor can bundle it.

8. Rigging (Hanging Signs)

Any overhead structure — hanging sign, truss, suspended lightbox — requires certified rigging labor. This is union-controlled at most major venues including McCormick Place and the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC). Rigger labor runs $150–$250 per hour with a 4-hour minimum call. Venues also charge per rigging point where hardware attaches to the ceiling grid; a simple single-sign hang typically requires 4 points. Total cost for a single hanging sign at McCormick Place or OCCC: $1,500–$5,000 depending on weight, height, and union jurisdiction. Rigging must be coordinated with your booth vendor — the design must match the exhibit’s structural engineering drawings or the job stops on the floor.

9. Plumbing

Less common than electrical but significant for food and beverage exhibitors at Natural Products Expo West at the Anaheim Convention Center and for medical device exhibitors at HIMSS. Water hookup at McCormick Place or OCCC runs $800–$2,500 depending on the number of connections required. Drain installation is a separate charge from water supply — exhibitors frequently miss this split on the order form and receive a surprise add-on at show-site.

10–12. Cleaning, Overtime Penalties, and Late-Order Surcharges

Mandatory booth cleaning at some shows is billed at $0.35–$0.75 per sq ft per day. A 20×20 booth at $0.55 per sq ft over a 3-day show equals $660 in cleaning fees that most first-timers never anticipate. Overtime penalties compound invisibly: move-in days that run past 5pm weekdays or bleed into weekends trigger overtime on every active laborer simultaneously. At CES at LVCC in January, move-in windows are notoriously tight — a delayed freight delivery on Day 1 can cascade into a full Saturday overtime call across an entire crew.

An advance order deadline is the cutoff date in your exhibitor manual after which all service orders — electrical, furniture, carpet, and AV — are subject to a late surcharge of 25 to 35 percent. This deadline typically falls 21 to 30 days before show open, and missing it on a $10,000 services order adds $2,500 to $3,500 in avoidable fees.

“Every exhibitor manual contains an advance order deadline — typically 21 to 30 days before show open. Orders placed after that deadline are subject to a 25 to 35 percent late surcharge on electrical, furniture, carpet, and AV rentals. For a $12,000 services order, missing the deadline costs an additional $3,000–$4,200.”

The advance warehouse deadline is a separate clock: freight must arrive at the advance warehouse 5–10 business days before move-in. At CES 2024, Freeman’s advance warehouse close date fell on December 19 — just before the holiday window — catching several first-time exhibitors off-guard with show-site receiving fees of $200–$800 per shipment. A managed full-service booth partner tracks all three deadline clocks as part of project management — advance warehouse close, discount order deadline, and show-site cutoff.

What Your Exhibitor Manual Bills vs. What a Fixed-Price Rental Covers

The exhibitor manual is written and distributed by the contractor who profits from every line item ordered. A fixed-price rental vendor’s financial incentive runs the opposite direction — containing costs protects the vendor’s margin and the client’s budget simultaneously. Understanding what drives the final invoice starts with knowing which charges can be bundled and which cannot.

Exhibitor Manual Charges vs. Fixed-Price Rental Coverage

Electrical, internet, and lead retrieval are exclusive services controlled by the official show contractor or organizer at every major U.S. venue — no rental company can bundle them, and anyone who claims otherwise is misrepresenting how show contracts work. The value of a managed rental is not eliminating these three items but ensuring every other line item is locked before the show opens.

“At large-format shows like CES or Pack Expo, exhibitors with a 20×20 island booth routinely spend $15,000 to $40,000 in exhibitor manual line items — separate from and in addition to booth construction or rental costs. First-time exhibitors who don’t account for these fees frequently overspend their total event budget by 30 to 60 percent.”

“A fixed-price booth rental from a full-service vendor like Pure Exhibits bundles design, fabrication, graphics, freight coordination, drayage management, I&D labor, and on-site supervision into one quoted price — eliminating the line items that generate post-show surprise invoices from show contractors.”

How to Read the Manual Before You Sign Anything

In most Freeman manuals, the material handling rate sheet appears on pages 2–5. Start there. This single page tells you more about your real booth cost than the next 80 pages combined. Calculate your estimated freight weight in hundredweights before you read anything else — multiply that number by the rate on the sheet, and if the result surprises you, call your exhibit vendor before you call the show contractor.

Once you have the drayage estimate in hand, locate every advance order deadline and enter all three into your project calendar immediately. There are typically three separate deadline clocks: advance warehouse close (5–10 business days before move-in), discount order deadline (21–30 days before show open), and show-site order cutoff. Missing any one of them is expensive. After logging the deadlines, run your preliminary drayage estimate and flag any services that fall into the “exclusive” column — electrical, internet, rigging at most venues, and plumbing. Non-exclusive services like flooring, some furniture, and AV in certain markets can often be sourced through your exhibit vendor at lower cost, so confirm before ordering from the manual.

The final step before submitting any order forms: send the electrical, rigging, and plumbing forms to your booth vendor first. These forms reference circuits, load capacities, and connection points that must match your booth’s structural and electrical drawings. A mismatch creates a change order — on-site, at overtime rates, with the clock running.

“The first thing I tell new exhibitors is: flip to page 3 of the exhibitor kit and find the material handling rates. That single page tells you more about your real booth cost than the entire rest of the document combined.”

— Marcus Webb, Senior Exhibit Manager, Pure Exhibits

A Pure Exhibits client exhibiting in a 20×20 space at the Georgia World Congress Center for MODEX in Atlanta received a post-show invoice reconciliation showing $0 in surprise charges — because drayage, I&D, and freight were built into their fixed rental price before the show opened. That outcome is repeatable, but only when the manual is read before commitments are made.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an exhibitor manual for a trade show?

An exhibitor manual — also called an exhibitor services kit or EAC manual — is a document issued by the official show contractor (typically Freeman, GES, or Fern Expositions) that governs every service, deadline, and regulation for your booth space. It covers material handling, electrical, labor, furniture, rigging, and cleaning, and typically runs 80 to 120 pages. Most exhibitor manuals are released 90 to 120 days before show open.

How much does drayage cost at a trade show?

Drayage at U.S. trade shows is billed per hundredweight (CWT) — per 100 lbs of freight — at rates ranging from $110 to $250 CWT depending on the venue and show contractor. A 20×20 booth shipment weighing 1,500 to 2,000 lbs can generate $1,800 to $4,500 in drayage charges. Venues like McCormick Place in Chicago and LVCC in Las Vegas are on the higher end of that range.

What are the hidden fees in a trade show exhibitor kit?

The most common surprise charges in a trade show exhibitor kit are drayage, overtime I&D labor, late-order surcharges on electrical and furniture, mandatory booth cleaning fees, rigging fees for hanging signs, and venue internet charges. Together, these ancillary costs can add $15,000 to $40,000 on top of booth construction for a 20×20 island exhibit at a major show like CES or Pack Expo. First-time exhibitors routinely underbudget by 30 to 60 percent when they plan only for booth construction.

What happens if I miss the advance order deadline in my exhibitor manual?

Missing the advance order deadline in your exhibitor manual triggers a late surcharge — typically 25 to 35 percent — on all service orders including electrical, carpet, furniture, and AV rentals. The advance warehouse for freight typically closes 5 to 10 business days before move-in; missing that separate deadline routes your freight to show-site receiving, which can add $200 to $800 in additional handling charges per shipment.

How do I avoid unexpected charges from my trade show contractor?

The most effective way to avoid unexpected charges from your show contractor is to read the material handling rate sheet and all advance order deadlines before booking any services, then coordinate your electrical and rigging orders with your booth vendor’s layout drawings. Consider a fixed-price booth rental that bundles drayage, I&D labor, freight coordination, and on-site supervision into a single pre-approved cost. Pure Exhibits offers this model across 40+ cities including Las Vegas, Chicago, Orlando, and Atlanta.

Get Into Your Next Show Without a Surprise Invoice

The exhibitor manual is where budgets break — not the booth build. Exhibitors who come out clean are the ones who read the rate sheets before they sign anything, calculate their drayage exposure before they book services, and lock in a project partner who owns the line items that generate post-show surprises. Pure Exhibits’ fixed-price model bundles design, fabrication, freight coordination, drayage management, I&D labor, and on-site supervision into one quoted number — with deep operational knowledge of Freeman’s North Las Vegas advance warehouse protocols and LVCC move-in windows from a base 20 minutes from the convention center. That same model runs across 40+ cities including Las Vegas, Chicago, Orlando, Atlanta, and Dallas.

The MODEX client result at the Georgia World Congress Center — $0 in post-show surprise charges on a 20×20 exhibit — confirms what a managed, fixed-price rental actually delivers. Before you commit to your next show, see our past builds to judge the quality, read what past clients say in our client testimonials, and then get a fixed-price quote before your advance order deadline closes.