Rail Car Shortage
- Thread starter jhs914
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Car makers should get rid of the mandatory freight charge they put on every vehicle. $500-$1000 even if you pick it up at the factory or a dealer just a few miles from the factory.
The article briefly hinted at it, but a big part of the "shortage" is because the trilevel cars which used to be used to haul sedans are sitting idle (because no one buys sedans any more) while the bilevels which haul trucks and SUVs are in great demand, and they haul fewer vehicles per car than the trilevels did. And even fewer of the largest vehicles.
Closet rail fan, and from all the very long auto rack only units that CSX has been running the past year or so, I'd say GM is using this as a replacement for the microchip/supply chain excuse to keep the market prices artificially high longer.
TTX has been retrofitting hundreds of the tri-levels to bi-levels lately. Its funny to see a hundred car train of what appear to be flat cars, but are actually just the base for the auto racks going to get sides and ramps installed.
Those are new motorcycle shipping charges, new cars and trucks are around $1500 these days. The Ford Bronco Sport and Maverick are $1495 right now. They bumped it up from $1295 last year.
I know RR executives like to sell cars that aren’t being used for the bottom line. CSX did this in the last few years for the bottom line and then they needed them. All cars aren’t used all the time. These executives come in from other industries who aren’t experienced in RRing, see cars not in use and sell them. Then they are needed and RR loses business.
A lot of it seems to be leasing issues-RR not using all of them, so they sell them to leasing companies. Then they have to lease them back for MORE $$$! Same thing happens with locomotives, too.
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So when they shipped 17M units in 2019 - what did they do? This year there currently running around 13M Top estimate by YE is 15M. I guess there either incompetent's or its typical GM BS. Likely both. I see all there lots around here full of $70K trucks no one wants to buy. SCARCITY -- run, run, run to our dealers and overpay.
I did some number crunching for a similar jeep cherokee to the 2019 trailhawk I bought in june 2018
would be 50% more currently.
between msrp inflation, actually paying near msrp (not getting $$$$ off msrp)
and interest (which I figured on 20k not the purchase price)
50+% more! not an exaggeration.
Edit:
Those are with financing the full price.. just for comparison purposes.
this is what the total was for my 2019
2023 with similar options at 4.95% interest (this is actually better than last month by almost 1500$)
ABSURD!
would be 50% more currently.
between msrp inflation, actually paying near msrp (not getting $$$$ off msrp)
and interest (which I figured on 20k not the purchase price)
50+% more! not an exaggeration.
Edit:
Those are with financing the full price.. just for comparison purposes.
this is what the total was for my 2019
| Total Cost (price, interest, tax, fees) 32,971.98 | |
2023 with similar options at 4.95% interest (this is actually better than last month by almost 1500$)
| Total Cost (price, interest, tax, fees) $50,444.22 | |
ABSURD!
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I know that the GM 2500/3500 HD trucks are the largest they have ever been causing transport issues that limit the number of units they can fit. I just paid almost $1900 to have a truck shipped from Flint assy to the dealer, less than 12 miles, the kicker is that it took them 15 days to do it.
The freight charge is is silly on a vehicle. Just include it in price I don’t care.
Yea-pickups have gone up $15,000.00 (since 2019). Ford just announced another $600.00ish price increase. I am expecting the mid-range Ford 150 XLT version to be pushing $70,000.00 before too long.
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You should have told them you would keep your $1900 and walk over and get it yourself
A look back in time: The GM/Southern Pacific Vert-A-Pac - Railway Age
Remember the Chevrolet Vega and its Pontiac equivalent, the Astre? These cars were shipped long-distance in a rather unusual manner.
www.railwayage.com
Delivery to point of sale is part of the cost of any good.
Kroger doesn't tack this on to what you pay for what they offer, so I'm not too sure why the automakers think this is okay, although more moderate destination charges were listed on the sticker even decades ago.
An alibi offered decades ago was that the destination charge reflected the cost of shipping all of the parts to the assembly point as well, as though your supply chain costs should somehow become a cost to me.
Kroger doesn't tack this on to what you pay for what they offer, so I'm not too sure why the automakers think this is okay, although more moderate destination charges were listed on the sticker even decades ago.
An alibi offered decades ago was that the destination charge reflected the cost of shipping all of the parts to the assembly point as well, as though your supply chain costs should somehow become a cost to me.
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The fact that destination charge is the same flat rate to every location in the USA tells you everything you need to know. Every manufacture knows all there cost to the penny - material cost, labor cost, factory floor space cost per square, machine capitalization amortization cost. Most boil it down to material, labor, and burden. Material cost would account for inbound freight. Most Auto OEM's require their suppliers to bid their costs FOB the OEM's dock. This is why the tier suppliers build there plants next to the assembly plant - they pay the freight, the OEM pays a price per unit.
If they were truly just recovering outbound shipping costs - the price would be different based on location.
Its a margin improvement program - always was.
If they were truly just recovering outbound shipping costs - the price would be different based on location.
Its a margin improvement program - always was.
I could have, I knew exactly where it was parked.You should have told them you would keep your $1900 and walk over and get it yourself
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