Shipping Problems for the 2003 Season

[Amanda Morrison]

I know that Team #45 had some major problems with FedEx during one of their regionals, and after finally receiving our crate back, we noticed significant damage along with problems of our own. Some of these include the complete obliteration of handscrews on the crate (used because they are easy to use and save time), chipping and shredding of the wood on our crate, markings on several sides, such as scrapes and black marks, and FedEx delivering the crate to the wrong building on campus! Because of the wrongful delivery, Ball State University personnel had to drag the crate - on its side, nonetheless! - across campus on a small furniture dolly. Of course, when we opened it up, the robot wasn't competely in pieces, but screws were falling out all over the place. We did put in 7-10 pieces of styrofoam to absorb some of the shock, but apparently our poor crate and our poor robot went through an awful lot during its little journey.

Did any other team have similar experiences?
Darn FedEx.

Here's a shot of just one of the handscrews. This particular one had to be sawed off just for us to open the crate. The threads are all smashed and ruined, and the wingnut was bent so hard that it began to crack.