Tesla is having problems delivering new cars to its customers. Elon Musk is blaming the railroads and even been resorting to buying trucking companies.
I am not familar with ship cars in bulk quantities, but does anyone know the average transit time from plant to dealer for the majors?
Also, does anyone know what trucking companies they have bought?
JoeBlowTesla is having problems delivering new cars to its customers. Elon Musk is blaming the railroads and even been resorting to buying trucking companies. I am not familar with ship cars in bulk quantities, but does anyone know the average transit time from plant to dealer for the majors? Also, does anyone know what trucking companies they have bought?
As the old saying goes - It Depends!
Different manufacturers have different strategys when it comes to orignating traffic. Last I heard was that Ford had a 'mixing center' concept, where the output from multiple plants were shipped to a 'mixing center' without regard to the ultimate destination of any individual vehicle. At the mixing center vehicles for a specific destination distribution center were all grouped on railcar loads for that location. Other manufacturers, last I knew, were shipping directly from the assembly plant to the destination distribution center.
For the most part the delivery side centers upon strategic distribution centers where automobiles are unloaded from rail cars and transloaded to OTR trucks that deliver them to dealers.
From observation of waybills it would seem that transportation of RAILCARS from a middle American origin to a East Coast distribution center is on the order of 3 to 4 days. What it would be to other areas of country, I have no direct knowledge. I also have no knowledge of how long a individual vehicle may take from being unloaded from the rail car to being loaded on a truck to the desination dealer.
What quantity of Tesla's is being tendered for shipment on a daily basis and what would be the destinations of those being shipped. The normal capacity of a tri-level auto rack is between 15 and 18 automobiles, how does this number match up with the vehicles Tesla has to ship - to a single destination. I have never seen different manufacturers 'share' space on a auto rack.
I have no knowledge of any trucking arrangements Tesla has made.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACD From observation of waybills it would seem that transportation of RAILCARS from a middle American origin to a East Coast distribution center is on the order of 3 to 4 days. What it would be to other areas of country, I have no direct knowledge. I also have no knowledge of how long a individual vehicle may take from being unloaded from the rail car to being loaded on a truck to the desination dealer.
FWIW, Tesla's are built in the former GM (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, CA. IIRC, both the WP and SP served the plant back in the days.
erikem BaltACD From observation of waybills it would seem that transportation of RAILCARS from a middle American origin to a East Coast distribution center is on the order of 3 to 4 days. What it would be to other areas of country, I have no direct knowledge. I also have no knowledge of how long a individual vehicle may take from being unloaded from the rail car to being loaded on a truck to the desination dealer. FWIW, Tesla's are built in the former GM (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, CA. IIRC, both the WP and SP served the plant back in the days.
If that is the case, I would expect it would take 7 - 10 days from end of the assembly line to a East Coast distribution center. If it were possible to have a FULL TRAINLOAD from origin factory to East Coast distribution center the transit time would be on the order of 5 days.
As I recall, (now that's dangerous), typically anything under 500 miles goes by auto carrier truck. From Flint, they haul FIVE pickups per load as far as St. Louis, Mo. Drivers pick up another load headed sort of back home. The Blend Center in Wayne, Mi.? north of Flat Rock, blends vehicles from Ford, GM and FCA. They, GM, haul some of the HD and crew cab trucks from Flint to that center for shipment south and east Lansing sends some of their stuff as well. Unit trains of HD and crew cab pickups head west from flint. The train will stop in Lansing to add to the train as needed. GM - Lansing has a blend on CN for the Acadia, Enclave, Camaro, ATS, CTS. Transit is really not the time killer, it's the time spent on the lot waiting for loading and then waiting for delivery. Something to remember is, they do not build your car to order anymore. You want a GMC Acadia SLT in dark blue with all the options? The dealer locates 'your' car on a dealer or storage lot somewhere and "poof" your special car is instantly shipped, sort of, (they build most all combinations and park them then forward them to the dealer when you place your order). So, GM built a new Dark Blue Acadia in Lansing, Mi. then shipped it to St. Louis, Mo. for staging. You live in say Pittsburg, PA. Your dealer can't locate it locally and the nearest exact car is, Oh yea, it's in St. Louis, Mo. So, it's put on a truck headed East to your dealer. That's is an extreme case because there is about a 95% chance of there being one within 200 miles of Pittsburg and you. Your new Buick is "custom found" just for you. I think, maybe, sorta. FYI, I grew up in Flint, Mi. and my largest customer was GM. At one time, I had passes to walk the assembly lines at Buick unescorted, cool stuff. Also new a few drivers for the car haulers.
JoeBlow Tesla is having problems delivering new cars to its customers. Elon Musk is blaming the railroads and even been resorting to buying trucking companies.
What is the source for this statement?
BOB WITHORNYour new Buick is "custom found" just for you.
A lot of regional swapping between dealers takes place, too. A dealer two or three towns away has "your" vehicle, so the two dealers work out a swap or an outright purchase.
Used to have an auto hauler based near here. New cars built in Canada were trucked to a point on the Canadian end of the Thousand Islands Bridge, driven across the border (as opposed to trucked), reloaded on a trailer and hauled wherever.
I have no idea why that arrangement was made.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Blaming the railroad, or any carrier for that matter, has been a commonly used excuse for a long, long time. Sometimes the blame is justified, sometimes it's just an excuse.
BaltACD . . . What quantity of Tesla's is being tendered for shipment on a daily basis and what would be the destinations of those being shipped. The normal capacity of a tri-level auto rack is between 15 and 18 automobiles, how does this number match up with the vehicles Tesla has to ship - to a single destination. I have never seen different manufacturers 'share' space on a auto rack. . . .
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/02/tesla-third-quarter-auto-production.html
That works out to about 930 per day - enough for 52 to 62 auto rack cars. Not enough for a train each day, but a couple trains a week.
- PDN.
Paul_D_North_Jr BaltACD . . . What quantity of Tesla's is being tendered for shipment on a daily basis and what would be the destinations of those being shipped. The normal capacity of a tri-level auto rack is between 15 and 18 automobiles, how does this number match up with the vehicles Tesla has to ship - to a single destination. I have never seen different manufacturers 'share' space on a auto rack. . . . Supposedly Tesla's 3rd Q 2018 production (all models) was 83,500, per: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/02/tesla-third-quarter-auto-production.html That works out to about 930 per day - enough for 52 to 62 auto rack cars. Not enough for a train each day, but a couple trains a week. - PDN.
Supposedly Tesla's 3rd Q 2018 production (all models) was 83,500, per:
The real question - what are the destinations? Destinations within a day's drive of the factory will be trucked. How many is that to subtract from the 83K, how many are going to a West Coast port to be shipped overseas? Out of the remainder, how many are being shipped to each of the major metropolitan areas that would have a distribution center for rail traffic. With 83K quartly production that amounts to approximately 6400 a week, considering a 7 day shipping week that is less than 1000 a day for ALL possible destinations.
From Tesla's on line info, they deliver cars to their service centers for pick up. If you live more than 160 miles from one, they say they will deliver to your door.
https://www.tesla.com/findus/list/services/United%20States
While looking up stuff, I came across this discussion on transporting Teslas.
https://model3ownersclub.com/threads/how-are-teslas-shipped-to-the-east-coast.5617/
Jeff
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