Transporting toolboxes on charter bus

FIRST General Forum
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The ask: Does anyone know of commercially available tool chest solutions that come in parts that fit into the 28" high cargo bay of a standard charter bus?

The premise: Our team travels by Charter Bus to regional events. We used to send an advance team towing a trailer to events, but realized that the bus could easily transport all our tools (by volume) and we preferred to stay together as a team.
The problem: Our rolling tool chest doesn’t really fit.
It is 41" x 41" x 18" on its wheels.
We used to remove each drawer of the tool chest, then lay the empty carcass on the floor of the cargo bay, then stack the drawers into the carcass (and beside it, since they don’t all fit). Our toolbox is at retirement age and we’d like to replace it with a solution we don’t have to dissassemble so fully.

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I don’t have an answer to your direct question, but I have some alternatives:

  • Ask for a Prevost H3-45. They are unusually tall, and have under-floor storage openings about 41" tall - enough for most rolling tool chests (assuming you work out a ramp solution): BAY DOORS – STAR COACHES, INC. • BAND BUSES • TOUR BUSES

  • Ask for a wheelchair accessible / ADA compliant coach bus. Those have elevators that can lift a ~ 24" wide upright toolbox

  • Ask if they’ll tow a trailer behind your bus. It’s a long shot, but I’ve seen it done.

3

Look into Mobile tool boxes like:
Dewalt TSTAK/Craftsman VERSASTACK (they are the same just different colors):

or Milwaukee Packout:

I use TSTAK for my personal tool box and IIRC @AllenGregoryIV and 3847 use TSTAK boxes for their team. What is cool about the mobile tool boxes is you can break them down for transport but in your pit you can stack the boxes back up minimize floor space requirements.

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I saw a team at the Rocket City Regional (2018-ish) with a coach bus that had a wheelchair lift. I can’t remember if they loaded their robot or tool box into the passenger area.

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I recently modified a cheap craftsman tool chest to be somewhere around 28”, but it was not straight forward. I had to cut holes in the base and recess 2” casters so they only barely stick out the bottom. I don’t think .5” of ground clearance and 2” casters are a good idea for a pit though. My chest never leaves its shop. https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-1000-Series-26-5-in-W-x-32-5-in-H-4-Drawer-Steel-Rolling-Tool-Cabinet-Black/1000746798

I recommendation is to either custom build some short tool chests or build simple carts to carry small COTS tool boxes and totes.

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My team used to transport things on a charter bus, and we ended up going for the trailer solution in the long run. The reasoning is that packing a trailer is much more consistent than a bus, you already know how your trailer should be packed (and if you don’t, you should fix that ASAP!). Additionally, if you’re in a rush trying to get everything into the bus, there’s a higher likelihood of error (which came back to bite us) compared to a trailer that can be loaded at a more relaxed pace.

I understand the preference for making everything fit on the charter bus, but there are some downsides you should be aware of.

7

Thanks for all the replies! Lots of good options to chew on, both along the lines of my original question and in some different directions I hadn’t considered.

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