Is Tesla using Ocean Freight to the East Coast?

DFiveK2 · Jun 4, 2015

Thanks to our handy Model S Delivery Tracker... I can't help but notice that East Coast (at least Northeast) shipments are taking about 21 days. Mine is on 20 days and still in transit so maybe it will be longer.

I checked on the Interweb and actual sea transit time from Oakland to New York/NJ is about 15 days. Give a few days either side for loading/unloading and there you are with the 21+ day number.

Ocean would definitely be the cheapest option vs truck and rail. It also would explain why some DS can't seem to track the vehicles during shipment as they'd be out of "communication range".

Not that it matters... I'm almost there.

pgiralt · Jun 4, 2015

I've heard they are shipping them on trains now.

zer0cool · Jun 4, 2015

My DS told me that it's on a truck and should take 7 to 10 days... who knows how long it ll really take...

electricBear · Jun 4, 2015

Mine was in eastern PA within 7 days of completing build. Had the impression it came by truck as a more direct route but train is possible.

brickfrenzy · Jun 5, 2015

My delivery to Cleveland came by train to Chicago, where it was offloaded and trucked from there. It took about 3 weeks all told from when its build was completed to when I picked it up - a week waiting for a train, a week on the train, and then a week getting offloaded in Chicago, trucked, and prepped at the Cleveland store.

DFiveK2 · Jun 5, 2015

I guess I'm just unlucky. My DS had reached out to me and scheduled today as my delivery date and that has come and gone so maybe I'm in the first batch that went by boat and it's caught everyone off-guard. If they are shipping by train and it's taking 3 weeks to get across the country they should just ship by boat and save a boatload of cash... literally.

I've had about 50 texts from people today asking about the new car as nobody in my area has ever seen one before and they knew today was the day I would get it.... and I went from excited and ready to show it off to sad and disappointed in my experience. Classic overpromise, underperform scenario. I'll just rock the 4Runner this weekend!

Manny13z · May 26, 2016

My delivery is in Florida. My DS told me it's railed to Alabama and put on a truck there.

GFM_P90D · May 26, 2016

Manny13z said:
My delivery is in Florida. My DS told me it's railed to Alabama and put on a truck there.

My deliver is also in Florida and I was told the same thing. My car is en route to Alabama via train and will be trucked to the Dania Beach, Fl service center. I was also told they would have another update on Tuesday and that they are still trying to deliver the car by June 8.

Funny story -- early today I was driving my daughter home from school and she screamed out, "Dad, look a trailer truck full of new Tesla's." I looked over and she was right. After a brief moment of excitement that my car would be on the truck, we all realized it was about a half dozen of new X's.

bobjustbob · May 26, 2016

Manny13z said:
My delivery is in Florida. My DS told me it's railed to Alabama and put on a truck there.

I was told the same thing. Started transit 5/13/2016 and is expected to arrive in Decatur, GA 6/4/2016. (Actually as of 5/23/2016 mine was "on the train" but still in California.)

Manny13z · May 26, 2016

bobjustbob said:
I was told the same thing. Started transit 5/13/2016 and is expected to arrive in Decatur, GA 6/4/2016. (Actually as of 5/23/2016 mine was "on the train" but still in California.)

Mine finished being built on 5/23, maybe we will be travel buddies.

IBX1 · May 29, 2016

They are shipping them by train now. They ship them to the nearest disty point and then load them on trucks to deliver to the local Tesla service station to get a final inspection.

Hookemhorns · May 29, 2016

bobjustbob said:
I was told the same thing. Started transit 5/13/2016 and is expected to arrive in Decatur, GA 6/4/2016. (Actually as of 5/23/2016 mine was "on the train" but still in California.)

Picking mine up in Decatur also. My DS Alex says the transit time from factory to delivery is 20 days, so your time is consistent with that. I'm still in production though...waiting is hard...

mrjedistud · May 30, 2016

DFiveK2 said:
Thanks to our handy Model S Delivery Tracker... I can't help but notice that East Coast (at least Northeast) shipments are taking about 21 days. Mine is on 20 days and still in transit so maybe it will be longer.

I checked on the Interweb and actual sea transit time from Oakland to New York/NJ is about 15 days. Give a few days either side for loading/unloading and there you are with the 21+ day number.

Ocean would definitely be the cheapest option vs truck and rail. It also would explain why some DS can't seem to track the vehicles during shipment as they'd be out of "communication range".

Not that it matters... I'm almost there.

Ocean would be too cost prohibitive. Under US law any ship that loads and discharges to and from US ports have to be eligible under the Jones Act. This greatly limits the number of ships that can carry cargo. It also greatly increases the cost of ocean freight. I'm not even sure if there is a Jones Act ship that does a west coast to east coast run.

AZ Desert Driver · May 30, 2016

I thought the Jones Act would let a ship touch base in Panama and get around that port-to-port issue. Second, there is a system for very large container ships to unload Pacific cargo and continue Pacific routes, while mules shuttle the cargo through the canal, to be picked up by mega Atlantic carriers. I think this also satisfies the Jones act. Cost for the baton pass? no clue. Cheaper than train? no clue. Keeping Tesla as all-american and using US trains and truckers instead of international ocean going freight lines....if I was a betting man, I'd bet the economics would not outweigh the labor friction.

Search

Is Tesla using Ocean Freight to the East Coast?

DFiveK2

Member

pgiralt

Active Member

zer0cool

Member

electricBear

Member

brickfrenzy

Member

DFiveK2

Member

Manny13z

Member

GFM_P90D

Member

bobjustbob

Elon Musk takes all my money

Manny13z

Member

IBX1

Member

Hookemhorns

Member

mrjedistud

Member

AZ Desert Driver

Rare combination

Similar threads