Consultants, like everyone else, need to be cautious about lifting and carrying more than they should. I have made many trips carrying way too many training manuals or binders. If possible, I try to use www.fedexkinkos.com to do the carrying for me. If you are familiar with Fedexkinkos, you probably know that you can print to a local Fedexkinkos directly from your office computer but it is just as easy to send that copy job to a Fedexkinkos that is located near where you need to travel. For example, I am in NJ but if I was doing a training class in Los Angeles, I would use the Fedexkinkos website to find the Fedexkinkos branch closest to where I would be and have the files printed there instead. Now if you have a rental car you can swing by the Fedexkinkos where you sent your files and pick them up or better yet, have them delivered by a local delivery service (organized by the Fedexkinkos branch) directly to the training site. Fedexkinkos can even put your copies into binder for you if that is the format you use. One great example of how well this worked was when I was doing training right outside Atlanta. I searched for a local store, sent the files there and then arranged for the local delivery van to take my files (exactly 25 heavy training binders) directly to the company where the training was to be held. The local delivery cost me $8! It was well worth avoiding the sore back I would have had after lugging all of these materials myself.
All is not roses though - of course there are the occurrences where your order is messed up for whatever reason and you go to pick up your files and they are not there. This has only happened to me a handful of times but I must say that Fedexkinkos is very good about making things right. They will usually fix the problem and have your materials to you within an hour. I have also learned that the local store manager's bonuses are directly tied to how many complaints they receive so they want to make you happy as quickly as possible.
There are other competitors out there - www.mimeo.com for example, that you might want to try as well but I personally have found Fedexkinkos the best for doing what they say they will.
