crate weight

[Katie Reynolds]

Originally Posted by gburlison

Robot - 120 lbs
batteries(6) - 85 lbs

After the fact we had the crate weighed empty and it was 170 lbs.

6.7.4 FedEx Weight Limit
Crates cannot exceed 600 pounds. REMEMBER: FIRST pays drayage costs for one crate up to 400 pounds only. Teams pay the drayage cost in excess of 400 pounds, rounded up to the next hundredweight.

6.10.2 Drayage Company Regulations
Weigh In: The Yellow Freight Terminal or drayage warehouse will weigh team crates as they arrive at each facility. These weights will be certified, and any crates exceeding four hundred pounds will be subject to drayage fees. If a team wants to dispute the weight of its crate, a forklift with weight scales will be on site at each event for reweigh.

6.10.4 Weight and Rates Structure
Rounding Up: Drayage Companies weigh by the hundredweight and round the weight up to the next hundred. Make a real effort to keep weight down to well below the hundred marks to allow for scale calibration differences.
Example: If your crate weighs 401 pounds, your charge will be based on five hundred pounds and you will have to pay for a hundred pound overage for that crate.

6.10.6 Drayage Costs - Teams
The following will cost teams money:
1. Crate exceeding measurement or weight specifications
2. Any additional crate. Teams pay entire drayage cost of additional crates
Note: Each team must pay for any additional material-handling charges by the end of each competition.

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375 lbs is pretty close. And if you forgot to include straps/tie-downs, the battery boxes, etc, that's pushing 400 lbs. There's also the possibility that your scale - or the drayage company's scale - was off by a few pounds. The manual makes it pretty clear to keep your crate's weight down, or prepare to pay the overage. The manual also tells you what to do in the event of a weight dispute:

6.10.3 Immediate On-site Crate Weight Complaint Resolution
When the team members arrive at the Pit Station:
1. Refer to and read the label Shepard Exposition Services (SES) placed on your crate.
2. If you have any question as to the accuracy of the weight or information on the label, immediately find An SES representative and resolve the problem. Please see the Pit Administration Supervisor if you cannot find a representative.
3. Do not open the crate until you resolve the problem.
NOTE: If you open the crate, you relinquish any appeal rights.

[gburlison]

Originally Posted by Katie Reynolds

6.10.3 Immediate On-site Crate Weight Complaint Resolution
When the team members arrive at the Pit Station:
1. Refer to and read the label Shepard Exposition Services (SES) placed on your crate.
2. If you have any question as to the accuracy of the weight or information on the label, immediately find An SES representative and resolve the problem. Please see the Pit Administration Supervisor if you cannot find a representative.
3. Do not open the crate until you resolve the problem.
NOTE: If you open the crate, you relinquish any appeal rights.

If the SES label was on the crate I might have noticed it before we open the crate. Instead I found it after the fact with the rest of the documentation on our table. I agree that 375 lbs is close to 400, but they claimed 430 lbs! That is a 55 lb difference and I am including everything. Straps, tiedowns, battery boxes were all left in the crate, since we did not have a need for them in the pit. They were all weighed with the empty crate at 170 lbs. It is very easy to have to pay an extra hundredweight if the scale is off by 55 lbs!