Shipping direct was not a problem for our team in 2000. At least not a shipping problem. We went to Great Lakes, Michigan, and Nationals.
What was disgusting was what FIRST did to make up for the shipping constraint. Teams were allowed to build at home until the Tuesday after a Regional and BRING their work to the next competition.
From one regional to the next, some robots received complete facelifts, not just repairs.
At least by saying teams can bring their robots home and work until Tuesday, you know they can't work PAST Tuesday. There is a shipping receipt, or bill of lading, or some kind of proof that the robot is out of their hands. But, if FIRST says that teams must stop working on parts after Tuesday and they can just walk the parts into the next competition, then there is no proof.
So I say let all teams work until Tuesday and then ship it to the next site. But, then again, my team may only be going to one competition this year anyway so we can work on the robot all we want after that
-Jason