Industries · Events & Exhibitions

Exhibition & Event Transport

If you're organising an exhibition anywhere in Australia, talk to DSE. We're proud to have worked with most exhibition organisers, helping to ensure the show goes on — bump-in, bump-out and the interstate move to the next hall.

The freight problem

Exhibition freight runs on somebody else's clock

Every other kind of freight can absorb a late run. Event freight cannot: the hall opens on the published date whether your stand is in it or not. That single constraint drives all six of the problems below.

The bump-in window does not move

Halls run on a schedule set months in advance. Turn up outside your slot and you wait, or you do not get in at all — so the collection has to be planned backwards from the dock time, not forwards from the warehouse.

Bump-out is worse than bump-in

Everybody wants out at once, the aisles are full, and forklifts are shared across the floor. The truck that arrives at the right moment leaves; the one that arrives early burns hours in a queue.

Stands are not standard freight

Crates, banner walls, display cases, AV racks, signage, flooring and product samples all in one consignment — heavy, fragile, oddly shaped and impossible to replace on the morning of a show.

Venues rarely have your unloading gear

Some halls have plentiful forklifts, some have none available to you. Tail lifts, cranes and a driver prepared to hand-unload keep the plan intact either way.

The show tours

A stand built in Melbourne goes to Sydney, then Brisbane, then Perth. That is linehaul on a fixed calendar where a late arrival cannot be absorbed.

There is no second chance

Most freight failures cost money. An exhibition freight failure costs the event. That is why the planning conversation matters more here than the rate does.

Fleet classes

The trucks that get a stand into the hall

Tautliners

Semi & B-double, 22–34 pallets

Weather protection, curtain-side loading and strong freight security — the default for crated stands and display stock.

Flattops

Open decks, side-loadable

Tough, large or awkwardly sized items with unrestricted access for craning and forklift work at the dock.

Crane trucks

8T to semi, up to 13.5m lengths

Structures and long display elements that have to be lifted off where the venue has no plant free.

Pantechs & rigids

1–14T, up to 16 pallets

Smaller stands, satellite deliveries and the runs between a hotel, a warehouse and the hall during the show.

DSE Transport driver opening the side curtain of a tautliner to unload crated freight

*A guide only — there are many configurations of vehicle size, accessories and capacity. See the full DSE fleet, or send your crate list and we will tell you what it needs.

Where the shows are

A branch in every exhibition city, and linehaul between them

Australia's exhibition calendar moves between the same five cities all year. DSE has an operations team in each of them, so the crew handling your bump-out is not a subcontractor you have never spoken to.

Sydney

Minchinbury, NSW · 02 9725 3200

Branch details →

Brisbane

Willawong, QLD · (07) 3274 1833

Branch details →

Melbourne

Campbellfield, VIC · (03) 9464 4605

Branch details →

Adelaide

SA · 1300 783 781

Branch details →

Perth

Kewdale, WA · 1300 660 622

Branch details →

Good to know

Exhibition Transport FAQ

If your question isn't here, call us on 1300 660 644.

Does DSE work with exhibition organisers?

Yes. If you are organising an exhibition anywhere in Australia, talk to DSE — we are proud to have worked with most exhibition organisers, helping to ensure the show goes on.

Our bump-in slot is outside normal business hours. Can you still deliver?

Yes. DSE Transport will find a driver and truck able to complete the task, taking their working hours and fatigue into account so the job is completed safely. Give us the dock time at booking and we plan the collection backwards from it.

Can the goods stay on the truck overnight between bump-in and opening?

The short answer is yes. We do need to know more about your freight first so that we can be sure we are doing it safely and securely for both you and our driver.

The venue has no forklift available to us. How does the stand come off?

Our fleet includes multiple tail lifts and cranes, and we can also manage hand load and unload. Tell us the unloading situation at both ends on booking and we match the job to the right truck and driver.

Can you move a stand between cities for a touring show?

Yes. We run linehaul services to all capital cities plus many rural and regional destinations. For 10 pallets or more it moves as a dedicated linehaul delivery — collected in Sydney today, in Brisbane or Melbourne the following business day. Full transit times are provided on booking.

We have display items far longer than a pallet. Can you carry them?

Yes. Crane trucks carry up to 7m lengths on an 8 tonne, up to 9m on a 12 tonne and up to 13.5m on a crane semi, and flattops handle awkward shapes. Send dimensions, weights and photos and we will confirm the vehicle before you commit to a bump-in time.

Call us for a quote today

Give us the venue, the dock time and the crate list, and we'll build the run around your bump-in. Talk to our exhibition freight team on 1300 660 644.

Quotes within 30 minutes during business hours (Mon–Fri, 6:30am–6:00pm).