A trade fair stand is a project with a deadline that will not move. When the hall doors open, everything has to be in place — the exhibit, the brochures, the screens, the coffee machine. And it is rarely the stand itself that lets people down. It is the logistics around it: the wrong delivery day, a missing stand number, a return shipment nobody thought to book.
This checklist is for getting trade fair logistics in Munich right, from the first delivery to the last pallet after the show closes.
The build-up windows decide everything
Every fair sets its own windows for build-up and breakdown, and the organiser publishes them in a logistics or service guide. That guide tells you when deliveries are accepted, which gates vehicles use to reach the grounds, and whether you need an access permit.
The rule that catches people out: arriving early is as bad as arriving late. Goods that turn up before build-up is open will not be accepted, and a vehicle left waiting outside the grounds burns time and money. Goods that turn up late mean an empty stand when the first visitors walk in.
Read your fair's logistics guide before you book any transport — not after.
Hall and stand number on every single package
During build-up, the exhibition grounds in Riem take in a constant stream of deliveries at once. A carton addressed simply to "Messe München" is as good as lost.
Every package needs:
- the name of the fair,
- the hall and the stand number,
- your company name,
- an on-site contact with a mobile number who genuinely answers during build-up.
That mobile number is the item most often missing. A driver standing outside the hall with nobody to call will, sooner or later, leave — and your exhibit leaves with them.
A direct drive, not the parcel network
For exhibition goods, ordinary parcel shipping is usually the wrong tool. A parcel passes through sorting centres and arrives at some point during the day. At a fair, you need a fixed time.
A direct drive collects from you and brings everything to the stand at the agreed time, without being reloaded along the way. That is kinder to fragile exhibits, and you know exactly when it will arrive. It works just as well for exhibitors elsewhere in Bavaria: from Augsburg, Ingolstadt or Nuremberg, a direct run to the grounds is often simpler than anything else.
Top-ups during the show
Something is always missing. The second box of brochures, a spare part for the exhibit, the cable still sitting on a desk back at the office.
This is where a courier based in the city earns its keep. Within Munich, same-day delivery is possible when the job comes in early enough — often the difference between losing half a day on the stand and having a perfectly ordinary one.
The half everyone forgets: getting it home
At breakdown, every exhibitor wants off the grounds at the same moment. Anyone who starts looking for transport then may not find any. And anything still in the hall once breakdown time is over will, as a rule, be cleared by the organiser at the exhibitor's expense.
So:
- Book the return leg together with the delivery. Not on the last day of the show.
- Pack for the journey home during build-up. Empty cartons, tape, labels and padding belong on the stand before you need them.
- Be realistic about breakdown. It nearly always takes longer than planned, and the gates and loading bays are packed.
Exhibiting from outside the EU: remember customs
For exhibitors from within the EU, exhibition goods are not a customs matter. But goods coming from further afield — Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States — have to be imported, even though they leave again after the show.
The standard tool for this is the ATA Carnet, an international customs document for the temporary import of exhibition goods, display items and professional equipment. It is issued by the chamber of commerce in the exhibitor's home country. Leave yourself time: applying for a Carnet the day before you travel rarely ends well.
What to have ready when you book
To set up a trade fair transport properly we need four things: which fair and which stand, what is being shipped (dimensions, weight, and whether it is fragile), the delivery window from the organiser's logistics guide, and when and where the return leg is going.
Delivery to Messe München and back, and runs to a fixed appointment — Saturdays and outside normal office hours included — are covered on courier services Munich. Oversized, fragile or particularly valuable exhibits are handled by our specialist team; there is more on the special services page. The best moment to get in touch is as soon as your show dates are fixed: the earlier the transport is planned, the calmer the build-up.