How to Know Your Event Transportation Needs a Dry Run

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

~ Ben Franklin

As an event planner, you’re well aware that preparation is key to the success of your event. At the same time, transportation seems to be often overlooked.

If planned and executed correctly, the transportation can be an extension of your event, not a detraction.

That’s why having your event transportation vendor perform dry-runs is crucial in many circumstances to the success of your event.

One Way In, One Way Out

Many estates and venues have entrances/exits with just enough width for one vehicle at a time. These situations can cause a calamity - ruining the first impression of your event. You’ll certainly

need a dry-run with all the vehicles you plan on using during the event, but also an on-site coordinator.

Benefits:

• Each driver will become comfortable with the venue layout • The on-site coordinator will completely understand the event logistics and how to

direct chauffeurs in and out of the venue in a smooth fashion.

Unmarked Roads

“Turn right at the 3rd tree.”

Those are actual directions we received for a recent wedding route with unmarked roads. The routing involved driving on tight sidewalks and through a wooded dirt road.

Thankfully, the event planner was well aware that a dry-run was needed. We brought our entire fleet of luxury minibuses down to the venue, took measurements,

performed dry-runs, and coordinated the flow of vehicles.

Without the dry-run, the success of this event would’ve been left up for chance.

Multiple Vehicles, Especially Different Sizes

Most of the time you need the fleet of vehicles to arrive on location at the same time. Well, different vehicles travel at different speeds. There’re many factors that exaggerate this such as frequent stop lights in metropolitan areas, but, in general, a luxury minibus is

going to take longer to reach its destination as opposed to a luxury Sprinter Van.

This is another situation where an on-site coordinator is highly recommended.

During the trip if the fleet gets separated at any point, the on-site coordinator will be in communication bringing the group back together. In order to get the best idea as to where those situations may occur the drivers and on-site coordinators benefit greatly from a dry-

run.

Venue Has Detailed Pickup/Drop-off Locations

In many cases, an address simply won’t cut it. The drivers will need to know how to navigate around the venue for both the

pickup and drop-off. As you know, sometimes pickup and drop-off locations are not so obvious and

shouldn’t be left up to the driver’s instinct. The best way to get the drivers ready is for them to see the venue in person and

have a clear understanding of what they need to do on the big day.

Strict Timeline

If you ever find yourself saying “We’ll need to go from here to there in under x minutes” then you certainly need a dry run.

If not, then your timeline could fall into a domino effect.

During the dry run make sure all drivers know the timeline to a T and be sure to calculate load times.

These dry runs should be done well in advance of your event. You may find that changes need to be made to either:

Your timeline of events Your transportation fleet

In the big picture, the investment made with a dry run is minor compared to consequences of neglecting to do so.

Event transportation is one of the few things you can actually prepare for by literally rehearsing.

It takes eight positive encounters to overcome a negative first impression.

Make sure your event’s first impression is brilliant by

planning, preparing and executing.