You can plan the perfect load. Right vehicles, right crew, everything packed in the right order. But if you haven’t checked what happens when you actually get to the venue, none of it matters.
Venue access is one of those things that looks straightforward on paper and then falls apart on the day. Tight loading bays, time slots you didn’t know about, height restrictions that nobody mentioned. The kind of detail that doesn’t show up on a floor plan but absolutely shows up on your timeline.
Most production managers learn this stuff the hard way. Here’s what to check before your event transport is even booked.
Forget the venue brochure. Start with the loading bay.
Venue brochures are built for event planners and clients. They’ll show you the ballroom, the breakout rooms, the catering options. What they won’t show you is:
- The loading bay that only fits one vehicle at a time
- The 1.9 metre height restriction on the car park
- The access road that closes two hours before doors open
The loading bay is where your event starts. Ask for the technical logistics pack, not the sales pack. If they don’t have one, that tells you something too.
7 questions that save your day
These are worth confirming directly with the venue ops team, and doing it early makes all the difference.
- What’s the maximum vehicle height? Some London venues have car parks at 1.9 metres. That rules out most vans before you’ve started. If you’re bringing rigids or artics, you need to know if there’s a dedicated lorry route with proper clearance.
- Is there a vehicle booking system? The big exhibition centres (ExCeL, Olympia, NEC) all use Voyage Control. You book a slot, get a pass, and without one you’re turned away. No exceptions.
- What paperwork does the driver need? At ExCeL, your driver needs a Lorry Access Document from the traffic office before they can get near the halls. At Olympia, vehicles must enter from Blythe Road within their booked window. This is not the kind of thing you want to discover on build day.
- How long do you get to unload? Some venues give 30 minutes for a car, an hour for a van, 90 minutes for a lorry. If you’re unloading flight cases of fragile AV kit that can’t be rushed off a tail lift, that window matters.
- What happens if you overrun? At the NEC, there’s a £100 deposit per booking that you forfeit if your vehicle overstays. Other venues simply move you on. Know the penalty before you plan the load.
- Where does the vehicle go after unloading? At most major venues, the loading bay is not a car park. If your driver needs to stay for a same-day de-rig, where does the truck sit for six hours? Some venues have lorry parks. Others send you half a mile away.
- What’s the access route? One-way systems, weight restrictions, residential streets with width limits. Get the postcode and the actual route, not just the venue address.
Heritage venues and city centres are a different game
The big exhibition centres at least have systems. Heritage venues, theatres, hotels, and city centre locations often don’t.
Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed building on top of a hill. During major events, car parks close, surrounding roads shut, and vehicle access is managed per event. If you haven’t confirmed arrangements with the ops team in advance, you could be sitting in a closed road with a loaded truck and nowhere to go.
London hotels are another common headache for corporate work. Many have loading bays designed for catering, not production freight. You might be sharing a single service entrance with the kitchen, housekeeping, and three other suppliers. If your vehicle is too tall for the basement ramp, you’re unloading on the street, which means permits, cones, and a council conversation that should have happened weeks ago.
The rule of thumb: for any venue you haven’t delivered to before, a phone call with their operations manager is worth more than any amount of Googling.
Don’t forget the out
Most planning energy goes into the load-in. But de-rig often causes more problems because the conditions are worse:
- The event is finished and the crew is tired
- The client wants everything gone quickly
- You’ve got the same access restrictions but a tighter window
- More vehicles are competing for the same loading bay
If the event finishes at 10pm and the venue needs clearing by midnight, your vehicle needs to be in position before the event ends, not queuing in a lorry park.
Plan the out at the same time as the in. Book de-rig access separately. Know the breakdown schedule. Make sure your driver understands the timing.
Build a venue log
If you’re running events regularly, start recording access details for every venue you work at:
- Loading bay dimensions and height restrictions
- Booking systems and turnaround times
- Contact numbers for the ops team
- The name of the traffic marshal who’s actually helpful
- Any quirks that only become obvious on the day
Your logistics partner should be building this knowledge too. A transport company that’s delivered to ExCeL fifty times should know the process cold, and they should be flagging access issues to you before you’ve thought about them.
If they’re not doing that, they’re just a vehicle with a driver. That’s not the same thing.
The bottom line
Venue access isn’t glamorous. It doesn’t make it into the event debrief or the client presentation. But it’s the thing that determines whether your build starts on time or starts with a phone call you don’t want to make.
Check it early. Confirm it directly. And work with people who already know what they’re walking into.