[dtengineering]

There is something "special" about the FedEx truck showing up on ship day, but I have to think that in most cases having teams do their own shipping is not only less expensive, but will also result in a significant carbon emissions reduction.

I know our robot crate, shipped FedEx international air, often went from Vancouver to the FedEx hub (Memphis, isn't it?) and then back to Portland.

On the other hand, I really appreciated having the customs issues all dealt with in advance. I can see that bringing a robot across the border it may be necessary to open the plastic bag for the customs agent.

But really... one way or another... I'm not that worried. The people who have organized FIRST to get it to this stage aren't likely to set up a system that won't be likely to succeed fairly well. And the teams that have managed to figure out how to build a robot aren't likely to have a lot of problems figuring out a different way of getting it to and from events.

I'm also not too worried about "cheating". I have yet to meet a successful FRC team that wasn't based from the ground up on GP. No, I haven't met ALL the teams, and I'm sure that there are some amongst the 1300 that who won't succumb to temptation... I just don't think it will help them that much.

Jason