FAQ
Straight answers, before you have to ask.
The questions that come up on every first call. If yours is not here, write to us and it probably will be.
What does Loadout actually do?
We store the portable inventory behind your trade show program, keep a record of every item with photos and condition history, then pull it, check it, prep it, pack it, and ship it when an event comes up. When it comes back it comes back to us, not to your office. We inspect it, document any damage the day it arrives, reconcile the counts, and put it back on the shelf ready for the next one.
How is this different from a storage unit?
A storage unit holds things. It does not know what is inside it, what condition any of it is in, or that you are down to forty brochures. Storage is the easy part of what we do and the least valuable. The work is the record, the prep, the shipping, and the inspection on return.
How is this different from a freight broker?
A broker moves a shipment you have already packed and already know the contents of. We are the part before and after that: what you own, where it is, what shape it came back in, and what is going out next week. We coordinate the freight as one step inside that, rather than as the whole service.
Do you set up the booth at the show?
No. Setup labor, staffing, drayage, electrical, rigging, and AV belong to the general contractor and the venue. We get everything there, packed correctly and on time, and we handle the return. The show floor itself is somebody else’s lane and they are good in it.
Do you handle drayage, electrical, or rigging?
No. Those are ordered through the show’s general contractor. We work alongside them on every event, but we do not sell or mark up show services.
Can you take our crated modular booth?
No, and we would tell you not to move it. Crated modular systems stay with your exhibit house, which is genuinely their job. Everything portable comes to us: pop-up displays, banner stands, tabletops, counters, literature, samples, swag, tablecloths, and the cable bin.
What happens if something comes back damaged?
You find out from us, the day it arrives, with pictures. Every return is inspected and logged before it goes back on the shelf. The point is that you never open a case on a show floor and discover something you could have known about eleven weeks earlier.
How many events do we need to be running?
About six a year. Below that the math stops working in your favor, because our monthly is the same whether you run four events or forty. It pays for keeping your inventory accurate and ready, not for the events themselves. If you are under six, a storage unit and a couple of Saturdays costs you less, and we would rather say so now than in month nine.
What does it cost?
Your monthly is built from what you store. Event deployments are $395 for a light one and $700 for a standard one, with $175 added when a leg moves by freight rather than parcel. Supply shipments between events start at $175. Hourly warehouse work outside a deployment is a Service Request at $125 an hour with a two hour minimum.
What is actually on the invoice?
Four things. A monthly that keeps your program ready. A fee when we run an event. A fee when we ship something between events. And the freight itself. Every number is approved by you before the work happens, so you never open a bill and have to reconstruct how it got that big.
How does billing work?
Invoiced monthly on the 1st, Net 15. Your invoice builds live, so you can look at it any day of the month rather than finding out when it lands. Every deployment, shipment, and Service Request is quoted and approved before it starts.
What if we need something on short notice?
We will usually do it. A rush applies under five business days notice, when a request displaces work that was already scheduled. It is disclosed up front like everything else, and you approve it before we start.
Are we locked into a contract?
Not right now, because we do not open until 2027. Reserving a founding slot costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Nothing gets signed until we open.
Where are you, and do you only work with Orlando companies?
We are in Orlando, Florida, which puts us next to the second largest convention facility in the country. We ship nationwide, and most of the work does not care where your office is. Your inventory lives with us and goes wherever the event is.
Still deciding
Ask us the awkward one.
We would rather answer it now than have you find out in month nine. Ten founding slots, setup on us, opening 2027.