How to Plan Crew Housing for This Work
Planning housing for event and Festival Staff Housing comes down to four questions: the headcount sleeping on site, the expected length of the assignment, the electrical capacity available at the pad, and delivery access for a truck and trailer. The sections below work through each question in order.
How we deliver and set up a sleeper trailer at an event site
Event dates are fixed months ahead, which makes crew housing easy to plan early. Coachella's booking process starts in August for an April show, about 6 months before the first weekend. Book your sleeper trailers once the build dates are firm, then confirm the final crew count 2 to 3 weeks before load-in. We plan every delivery so each trailer is set at least a day before the first crew arrives.
Delivery day should stay clear of the heaviest truck traffic. Stage and lighting trucks crowd the gates during load-in, so we schedule the trailer drop before that rush or during a quiet window your site manager chooses. The driver needs a gate pass or a name on the delivery list, along with a site contact who answers the phone. A 34 ft trailer also needs room to back in, so mark the exact spot before the truck arrives.
The most common delivery problem at an event is a spot that looked flat in a photo. Grass fields soften after rain, and a trailer parked on soft ground can settle enough to bind a door. We bring blocking and set the trailer level on arrival, and we come back to check it if the crew reports any movement. Power is the other common gap, since a generator sized for work lights may not carry 3 AC units during a hot afternoon.
Pickup follows tear-down. Crews that finish tear-down in stages can release trailers one at a time, so the last crew still has beds while everyone else heads home. The same delivery steps apply to our bunkhouse trailers for construction crews, where the site layout also changes from week to week. On private grounds and fairgrounds, an early pickup is important because the property usually returns to its normal use within days.
- A level spot longer than the 34 ft trailer, with enough room for the truck to back in
- Gate access details and passes for the delivery driver and the truck
- Power from a grid hookup or from a generator sized for 3 AC units with heat
- Restroom and shower trailers close by, since the sleeper trailer holds bunks only
- A site contact with a working phone number on delivery day
- Your load-in schedule, so the delivery avoids the busiest gate hours
- A planned pickup date after tear-down, even if it is still a rough estimate
How many bunk trailers your event crew needs
| Scenario | Crew size | Trailers |
|---|---|---|
| Rodeo stock crew | 12 people | 1 trailer |
| Small build crew | 20 people | 2 trailers |
| Stage build crew | 24 people | 2 trailers |
| Full production crew | 36 people | 3 trailers |
| Two-shift production crew | 36 people | 2 (shared bunks) |
| Show-day security team | 60 people | 5 trailers |
| Two-shift security team | 60 people | 3 (shared bunks) |
The basic math is simple, because you divide your crew by 12 and round up. A 24-person crew needs 2 trailers with one bunk for each person. A 60-person security team needs 5 trailers on the same basis, and a 20-person crew still needs 2, which leaves 4 spare bunks for relief staff.
Shared bunks change the math when your crew works two 12-hour shifts. Only half the crew sleeps at any one time, so a 36-person crew needs 18 bunks and fits in 2 trailers with 6 to spare. A 60-person team on the same rotation needs 30 bunks, which 3 trailers cover. Ask your crew leads first, because many crews strongly prefer one dedicated bunk per person, and we can size the plan both ways on the phone.
Headcount changes constantly. A build crew of 24 can grow to 60 on show days, then drop back to about 30 for tear-down. Sizing for the peak all month means paying for empty bunks through most of the job. A smarter plan starts with 2 trailers for the build and adds 3 more for the show days. We then pick up the extra trailers first when tear-down begins.
Heat and driving rules that affect event crew housing
OSHA's heat guidance for outdoor workers centers on water and rest breaks, with shade or cooling available during those breaks. It also calls for shorter shifts and more frequent breaks for new workers who are still getting used to the heat. Build crews at a May festival in the desert fit that description during their first week on site. A cool place to sleep between shifts supports that recovery, and your safety manager decides how it fits into your heat plan.
Rest between shifts is a labor issue as well as a safety issue. IATSE represents over 168,000 technicians and craftspersons, and its jurisdiction specifically names concerts along with film and television work. In 2021, its Basic Agreement for film and television set a 10-hour turnaround between shifts, after a strike vote that passed with nearly 99 percent support. A 45-minute drive in each direction reduces that 10-hour turnaround to eight and a half hours before anyone even eats dinner.
The federal GSA per diem system shows how lodging is treated when staff travel for work. It sets a standard rate plus about 300 higher-cost areas, with new rates published every year. Its guidance bases payment on where the work happens, unless lodging is not available at the work location. Agencies that already work with those rates may also want our bunkhouse trailers for military and government teams.
Local rules for staff housing on an event site vary by county and by the terms of your event permit. Your permitting manager and the event's safety team decide which rules apply to your particular site. We send the spec sheet with the bunk layout and the power requirements, so they have everything they need for that review before delivery day.
- OSHA heat illness prevention guidance: Water and rest breaks with shade for outdoor workers, plus lighter shifts for workers new to the heat.
- FMCSA hours of service rules: Daily driving and rest limits for commercial drivers who haul gear and livestock between events.
- IATSE Basic Agreement, 2021: Minimum rest time between shifts for covered film and TV crews, a benchmark many stage crews know.
- GSA per diem rates: Federal lodging and meal rates by work location, updated every year.
- Event Safety Alliance guidance: Safety guidance and training for live event teams, including OSHA training courses.
What hotel rooms and long commutes cost an event crew
Most event crews today sleep in hotel rooms booked as close to the site as possible. During a large event, fans want those same rooms at exactly the same time. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally draws around 500,000 people over 10 days every August, and the town voted in 1982 to end camping in its own City Park. Crew rooms in a town like that often end up far from the work.
Distance turns into drive time, and drive time comes directly out of sleep. A crew staying an hour away spends 2 hours a day on the road, which adds up to 42 hours over a 21-day job. Much of that driving happens after a closing shift that ends around midnight. Federal trucking guidance says fatigue risk peaks between midnight and 6 in the morning.
Room blocks also take a surprising amount of administrative staff time. Someone on your team has to book 18 rooms for a 36-person crew and then match roommates for every one of them. That same person tracks receipts for every room across every night of the job. Three sleeper trailers replace all of that paperwork with one delivery and one pickup.
- 378 hotel room nights for 36 people, 2 to a room, over a 21-night job
- 3 trailers sleep the same 36 people on site, one bunk each
- 90 min of daily driving on a 45-minute commute each way
- 10+ hrs of commuting across 7 straight shifts at that pace
Three typical setups, worked out plainly, the short version
Typical setup: desert music festival, 36-person build crew, spring
A production manager plans a two-weekend festival on private grounds, with the nearest available rooms about 50 minutes away. Three sleeper trailers go into the production compound behind the main stage the day before load-in. The site manager marks a level spot next to the restroom and shower trailers, and the crew lead sets each thermostat once. Every person gets a dedicated bunk for the full build and show period. Two trailers leave after the first tear-down week, and the last one stays for the final crew.
Typical setup: speedway dance festival, 60-person security team, overnight shifts
A security company staffs an overnight dance festival at a speedway and divides its team into two 12-hour shifts. Four trailers arrive on a paved lot inside the staff gate, with the night shift in two trailers and the day shift in the other two. That split keeps a door opening at breakfast time from waking people who went to bed at dawn. The air conditioning runs through the afternoon, so the night shift sleeps through the hottest part of the day. Pickup happens the following morning, after the final show ends and the security team has been released.
Typical setup: December arena rodeo, 12-person stock crew, 10 nights
A stock contractor brings a 12-person crew to a 10-day arena rodeo in December. One heated, portable bunk trailer sits on a back lot a short walk from the stock pens. Crew members start chores before sunrise and finish after the last performance, so the heat runs all night. Each person keeps gloves and a phone charger at the bunk, and nobody drives across town after midnight. The trailer leaves the morning after the final round, once the stock is loaded for the trip home.
