Our team got a waitlist invite to Houston Champs this past week. Given that our team has never gone to compete, we’re jumping at the chance to attend.
But the more our team thinks about it, the more of a daunting task it is for us to plan this trip. Specifically, the travel is just getting more and more overwhelming.
We would ask some of our local teams how they usually manage, but the problems are unique to this year. Because TN got zoned for Houston, most teams around here are used to driving to St. Louis and taking everything that way. Houston is pretty far away from Knoxville, so we’re looking at flying rather than taking a crazy long drive down there.
The one specific question we have is for other teams that fly: how do you get your pit to Champs? We have absolutely no idea what to do right now to get our pit there with us. That includes workbenches, shelves, the robot cart, and the nice looking parts. As far as I’ve read, you can’t put anything more than the robot & batteries in the robot crate.
Really, any overall tips are appreciated. We’re excited to go but there’s a lot to do.
How far is it for your drive? Look at taking a bus? Our team went to Boise for a regional which was 26 hours on a bus. I couldn’t imagine cost to take plane unless you have a pretty small team.
It’s a balancing act. Given the distance, it would mean adding another hotel day if we take a bus. I think the cost of a bus vs. the cost of flying wasn’t crazy different so far at what we’ve looked, but we’re still waiting on a definitive quote from GET Sports.
The shipping cost for the pit (if that’s what has to be done) could also break that difference, though. We have no idea what that might cost.
Also… 26 hours?! Dunno if I could stand some of these students for that long in a bus.
I’d definitely get in touch with other teams close-ish to you about going in together. A truck split three or four ways might be more manageable. (I note that 3824 is also on the Houston list as of posting time.)
First off, congrats! I’m so glad to hear that you all got a Champs invite this year. I don’t have much advice because - as you said - when 1466 traveled, we were going to St. Louis. We did get a bus with large enough storage below that we packed up everything in the lower bus compartment and traveled that way. That cut costs a lot because we had only the one large vehicle. Of course, we got to St. Louis with a scaled-down pit, but we were able to have everything we needed on hand.
We at 3824 are figuring out the same things as you since we usually only have to plan for St. Louis and this year are planning for Houston. I sent you a PM connecting you to those working on our plans. There might be something we can work together on and who know who will also be in the same boat after Smoky next weekend.
Is there any teacher or mentor or parent on your team who would be willing to drive, even if the rest of the team takes a bus or flight? A minivan or an SUV or U-Haul is probably sufficient to bring everything you need for a pit. You can pack lighter than you might otherwise, bring only what you really need. You can likely borrow that esoteric tool or fastener from one of the hundreds of other teams there, should you need it.
Unless you plan to build something crazy in your pits (harpoons? ) you likely won’t need a lot of raw materials either.
On rare occasions, we have a mentor drive the robot/stuff. However, often our team ships two crates via FedEx. One for the robot and one for all the other pit stuff (including batteries and tools.) We bring our laptops via carry on luggage on the flight.
You might want to check with your regional director to see if the other local teams that qualified for Houston are planning a road trip.
I didn’t see this mentioned yet, but in the past you were allowed 400lbs free in your Championship robot crate. I’m not sure if that would help with the workbench or shelving situation, but it may help with at least some of what you need to get to Houston.
How many adults (mentors, parents, school staff) do you have willing to travel with the team? I think this can really be a determining factor with what is most effective and realistic for the team.
I highly recommend looking into vehicle rentals/adult personal vehicles. I’ve had a lot of experience with this and it can really take a lot of pressure off logistically. You can get where you need to go without much complication and you can stay further from the venue (this can really lower costs). This really depends, though, on the number of adults you have with the team and the time they are willing to take off work for the trip. Many school/district rules or state laws also limit the number of students a school-related vehicle can hold (in AZ it is illegal to transport students in vehicles that are 12 seaters or more). Some districts also have vans or other vehicles specifically for extracurricular activities.
Problem is that 400lb includes the crate. Crates tend to be pretty heavy…
But if you can pay the overage, it may be worth it to stuff that crate with a lot of stuff that would otherwise need transporting under a bus/in a truck/as checked baggage.
Definitely reach out to teams nearby. It was probably easier for 1991 because we were able to go through NE FIRST. We ended up sharing a bus with 839 (awesome people by the way) and a few of our mentors drove our pit stuff that was too big to fit on the bus.
We’re currently experiencing this issue trying to transport our stuff from LA to Boise since we are flying. This is the first year that we have a road case which is why we have new challenges in traveling.
If you “must” be in something big like a road case, as mentioned, the best bet is to find a local team - odds are someone is already driving a truck. If they are renting the truck, perhaps they can rent a bigger one and you can work out the cost differentials with them.
However, we usually pack light for Champs. We fly Southwest which gives everyone two free bags so we check totes. If you have 10 people going, that’s already 20 totes. You may be lacking something like shelving but there are ways around that (single oversized item, give it to another team to bring, super cheap Ikea or Target item, etc.).
We would love to stuff the crate, but the robot transportation page has this note:
What our team has usually done for our out-of-state regionals is take a coach bus and have a mentor drive seperately with our trailer. It just may be a tough sell to get someone to drive all the way to Houston, is the issue.
Do you know how much that second crate typically costs? Does it get sent straight to the venue or does someone have to be able to pick it up and take it there?
I wish we could talk to our RD or SM but they don’t do much more than plan the regional around here. I’m definitely going to get in touch with other teams in the next week or so (after our local regional and hopefully more teams qualify) about potentially sharing a truck to ship our pit.
Basically, what our team is considering now is taking a coach bus and having a seperate vehicle with our team trailer, OR taking a flight and working out a shared truck with nearby teams. Sending a second crate doesn’t seem like it would adequately fit our team’s stuff and we wouldn’t know how to transport that crate locally if we have to.
We have an email out to FRC Logistics to ask for their advice too, because some of the information seems conflicting (especially on packing the robot crate with things other than robots and batteries).
I don’t know how much it costs. I’m sure it is expensive. But then so is renting a van for a few days :). We also send it via a way that takes a long time. We were at a week one event this year and FedEx picked it up the morning of stop build day. (So just over a week before it needed to arrive.)
FedEx goes straight to the venue just like the robot does. FedEx picks up and delivers both crates at the same time at both ends.
If you are shipping a second crate to world’s please read and understand the rules. It does not go straight to the venue. It goes to the freight forwarder first uses whose name escapes me at the moment. Same as the robots
Usually we just pay the overage, and get it sent with the robot in the crate. This is just easy for us, and makes it so we don’t have to have a parent, mentor, or coach drive it all the way to Champs. Thats way too far from AZ for us!
We usually fly to our second regional every year and end up finding a parent/child willing to drive our stuff. Last year two fathers and sons made the round trip from Dallas to Boise for the Idaho regional.
You may also want to call the airline and ask them if they’ll cut you a deal to ship you pit area as cargo.
In past years we’ve also just asked for extra suitcases for our kids and paid the baggage fees for 1 or 2 bags per student (if you fly Southwest it’ll be free) and evened out the weight so none of the bags went over the 40-50lb limit. We didn’t bring anything super special for our pits when we do that; just what we need for parts and repairs.
) you likely won’t need a lot of raw materials either.