BaltACDDon't think I ever got a full tank in any of the cars I have bought for over 50 years.
I did once in a used truck - but that was an old-school dealer.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Ulrich Paul of Covington Backshop Yeah, I can just see customers complaining when their self delivered "new" car shows up with 2000 miles on the odometer. Tell them it's pre-broken-in at no extra charge. But who refuels them when the trip is over about 300 miles? Maybe if Amazon sells them they could be delivered by drone. If they can drive themselves then surely they can refuel themselves too..
Paul of Covington Backshop Yeah, I can just see customers complaining when their self delivered "new" car shows up with 2000 miles on the odometer. Tell them it's pre-broken-in at no extra charge. But who refuels them when the trip is over about 300 miles? Maybe if Amazon sells them they could be delivered by drone.
Backshop Yeah, I can just see customers complaining when their self delivered "new" car shows up with 2000 miles on the odometer.
Yeah, I can just see customers complaining when their self delivered "new" car shows up with 2000 miles on the odometer.
Tell them it's pre-broken-in at no extra charge.
But who refuels them when the trip is over about 300 miles?
Maybe if Amazon sells them they could be delivered by drone.
If they can drive themselves then surely they can refuel themselves too..
Amazon drones will deliver them! And if you are Prime member the shipping is free.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
zugmann Paul of Covington But who refuels them when the trip is over about 300 miles? Lots of places don't fill the tanks when you buy a car anymore.
Paul of Covington But who refuels them when the trip is over about 300 miles?
Lots of places don't fill the tanks when you buy a car anymore.
Don't think I ever got a full tank in any of the cars I have bought for over 50 years.
BackshopWhat I don't understand is all the people who supposedly don't have the time to go and buy a new car. If you can't take a few hours to make your second biggest purchase, you either have screwed up priorities or are working way too many hours.
Or the car buying process sucks. And if you know what you want - why bother with the hassle?
Backshop What I don't understand is all the people who supposedly don't have the time to go and buy a new car. If you can't take a few hours to make your second biggest purchase, you either have screwed up priorities or are working way too many hours.
What I don't understand is all the people who supposedly don't have the time to go and buy a new car. If you can't take a few hours to make your second biggest purchase, you either have screwed up priorities or are working way too many hours.
They have the time but would prefer to do other things with it. I don't want to hang out at a car dealership... would much rather sleep in or pursue a hobby.
Broke in at 2000 miles.. no big deal.
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Marginal cost of operating an autonomous car from factory to 'point of acceptance' is not only lower than the cost by electric truck net of infrastructure expenses ... it is likely lower than the pro rata cost to finance and maintain it.
And the cars are just as likely to gang-drive to a railhead and park themselves if going somewhere in sufficient masse to warrant crrier: precisely the same logic applies to shorter-run or distributed destination as you're using for truck vs. legacy rail. It's like the Rotterdam example but without the need for trucks at all; the cars can even run in full cocoon except for sensors.
Pre-discounted for the extra miles run, if that is a concern. The Carvana approach is probably best for last-mile, because the truck is one-on-one (and should nicely adjust to an Amazon-style BEV or hybrid-electric chassis) if keeping odometers low is important. But that's different from 'commodity' long-distance car carriers, or specialty providers like Horseless Carriage for which rail couldn't be a practical option in the first place.
And when teleportation becomes available, we won't even need cars.
"Beam me up Scotty!"
csxns ttrraaffiicc deliver themselves. From the looks of things, it won't be long until rail is shut out of the automotive sector entirely. Add trucks to that if cars can deliever themselves.
ttrraaffiicc deliver themselves. From the looks of things, it won't be long until rail is shut out of the automotive sector entirely.
Add trucks to that if cars can deliever themselves.
Russell
I think one thing that is missing from the discussion here is the fact that once cars are able to drive themselves there won't be any need for autoracks as the cars can literally deliver themselves. From the looks of things, it won't be long until rail is shut out of the automotive sector entirely.
Look at the Tesla Model .. show rooms in shopping areas with a few models to test drive. Then you order off a web page to have it delivered.
SD60MAC9500 NorthWest I highly recommend watching the whole presentation if you have the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxUnryZuy8g&feature=emb_logo Continuing the same business model will be increasingly unviable as the shipping industry trends towards smaller shipments moving shorter distances. Shifting the business model to account for these changes is possible, however. They say automotive traffic is declining.. Saying Automotive is very broad as that cover autoparts as well. I imagine their graph combine both parts and finished autos, etc, which would give trucking greater market share. Rail still dominates the market when it comes to finished autos. Autopart traffic has been on the decline in boxcar service for years this is nothing new. I'd like to see their breakdown of autoparts shipped by intermodal.
NorthWest I highly recommend watching the whole presentation if you have the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxUnryZuy8g&feature=emb_logo Continuing the same business model will be increasingly unviable as the shipping industry trends towards smaller shipments moving shorter distances. Shifting the business model to account for these changes is possible, however.
I highly recommend watching the whole presentation if you have the time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxUnryZuy8g&feature=emb_logo
Continuing the same business model will be increasingly unviable as the shipping industry trends towards smaller shipments moving shorter distances.
Shifting the business model to account for these changes is possible, however.
They say automotive traffic is declining.. Saying Automotive is very broad as that cover autoparts as well. I imagine their graph combine both parts and finished autos, etc, which would give trucking greater market share. Rail still dominates the market when it comes to finished autos. Autopart traffic has been on the decline in boxcar service for years this is nothing new. I'd like to see their breakdown of autoparts shipped by intermodal.
[quote user="Balt
Ulrich Juniata Man As much as I dislike "the dance" that's involved when walking into a dealership to purchase a new vehicle; it is incomprehensible to me to purchase a vehicle on line and have it show up in my driveway without having test driven it. Heck; I won't even purchase a new pair of walking shoes on line as I like trying them on before buying. And I realize cars and shoes purchased on line can be returned but, there are some things I need to actually "experience" before pulling the trigger on buying. Better return policies would fix that.. and perhaps one would be able to take the car for a "virtual" spin before buying it..
Juniata Man As much as I dislike "the dance" that's involved when walking into a dealership to purchase a new vehicle; it is incomprehensible to me to purchase a vehicle on line and have it show up in my driveway without having test driven it. Heck; I won't even purchase a new pair of walking shoes on line as I like trying them on before buying. And I realize cars and shoes purchased on line can be returned but, there are some things I need to actually "experience" before pulling the trigger on buying.
As much as I dislike "the dance" that's involved when walking into a dealership to purchase a new vehicle; it is incomprehensible to me to purchase a vehicle on line and have it show up in my driveway without having test driven it. Heck; I won't even purchase a new pair of walking shoes on line as I like trying them on before buying.
And I realize cars and shoes purchased on line can be returned but, there are some things I need to actually "experience" before pulling the trigger on buying.
Better return policies would fix that.. and perhaps one would be able to take the car for a "virtual" spin before buying it..
Virtual - as real as it may seem - IS NOT REAL
You don't get the feel of the real ergonomics from a virtual representation.
[/quote]
Not yet! It's just a matter of time..
BaltACD Not yet!. It's just a matter of time. Ulrich Juniata Man As much as I dislike "the dance" that's involved when walking into a dealership to purchase a new vehicle; it is incomprehensible to me to purchase a vehicle on line and have it show up in my driveway without having test driven it. Heck; I won't even purchase a new pair of walking shoes on line as I like trying them on before buying. And I realize cars and shoes purchased on line can be returned but, there are some things I need to actually "experience" before pulling the trigger on buying. Better return policies would fix that.. and perhaps one would be able to take the car for a "virtual" spin before buying it.. Virtual - as real as it may seem - IS NOT REAL You don't get the feel of the real ergonomics from a virtual representation.
Not yet!. It's just a matter of time.
Most of the online car selling services that advertise so heavily seem to be dealing in used cars. Picking a used car off a website seems to be a high-risk decision to me since I can't independently verify the "facts" in the attached blurb.
Right. Why pay for all the overhead and profit margins of a middle man (dealer)? Even now, a large and increasing portion of dealers' new car sales are from online. They get the vehicle you want from another dealer or the manufacturer's stock. Fewer and fewer folks buy a car straight off the lot.
As to the original post, I sure see a lot of autoracks on the UP.
Overmod More buggy-whip assumptions.
Two of my acquaintances have bought used cars from Carvana. They shopped on-line, ordered what they wanted, and viola it was delivered. Moreover, my local Toyota dealer offers the same option. I could go on-line, pick out a vehicle, organize the details on-line or over the phone, and have the car delivered.
The service is still in its infancy.. I'm sure online shopping and delivery to your door services will improve greatly over the coming five years. It may not seem that way though because consumer expectations will continue to go up accordingly. Just look at the home pizza delivery biz.. Once upon a time we had to actually CALL the pizza joint to place an order.. now we just go online, and most places will give you a a detailed minute by minute update on how your pizza is progressing. Yet still we fret about not having it in our hands sooner.. maybe drones can get the finished product to us even faster? It will be the same with everything else. Need a new shirt? Hmm.. why isn't it here yet when I placed the order over 20 minutes ago? Among the universe of products and services that are available at our disposal nothing exists to temper consumer expectations... the better things get the more and faster we want them.
Ulrich Would be great to order our customized vehicles on line and then have them show up on their own in our driveways.
Would be great to order our customized vehicles on line and then have them show up on their own in our driveways.
I have two items on order right now that are waaaay late to be delivered and the tracking info only lists that they got shipped (different vendors, different delivery companies) last month. It is bad enough that one of these items was $460, but if I am going to spend $20,000 to $60,000+ on a product, it had better be on display in a show room and I can drive it away myself upon payment!
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
I do not believe you will see driverless trucks, buses, or cars, on the national general highway and street system, in your lifetime. Too many legal and safety issues. Just as the perfect laptop that never errors is still to arrive. Automatic and self-driving operation, yes to improve safety, but still with a licensed driver on board.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.