Good afternoon,
I am NSC011099. I'm going to start off quickly by saying that I am NOT an owner (or fan, for that matter) of Tesla (or any other Elon Musk venture). However, I felt compelled to create this account to clear up some of the smoke surrounding the Tesla/Union Pacific issues.
Although I am not a fan of Tesla, I am a supporter of our nation's railroads, especially Union Pacific. UP literally helped build this country, as I'm sure you all will remember from your education about the 1800s and the Transcontinental Railroad. UP has done a lot of good things for us, and it seems only fair that they be given a fair shake too.
As I'm sure you've all heard, Tesla is the subject of heavy debate right now in regards to Elon Musk and his antics as well as the general probability of the company being around this time next year. Recently, it has come to light that Tesla seemed to be leaving many suppliers "high and dry", as it were, when it comes to getting paid, and even asking for refunds for parts.
Now, Tesla tried to pass this off as a "normal business operation" or something to that extent. I can say that is definitely not the case. I am a supply chain student at a top 10 supply chain school (I'm not going to name which), and I've talked with my professors about this. All of them agree on one thing: that in all of their professional lives, they have never once heard of a company asking their suppliers for refunds like Tesla did. They took this as a sign that Tesla was developing a serious cash problem. It seems that Union Pacific was not spared in this. Railroads do not like dwell time. They want cars on their network moving as much as possible so they're earning revenue for the company. Although these Model 3s are not in a railcar, they are on the lot, and won't be released. Another chat with one of my SCM professors revealed that UP is probably holding onto the cars as collateral until Tesla pays them, as a paperwork snafu would have been resolved by now.
If your car is one of those that is stuck in the lot, contact Tesla. Union Pacific is not going to release the cars because one of them "belongs to you". In reality, it doesn't, unless you already have the title in hand, which from what I understand of the Tesla delivery process, doesn't happen until you get to the SC. If you do not have the title in your hand, then the car is still legally the property of Tesla and will be treated as such. At the same time, I've seen more than a few posts on Twitter that talk about getting 20 people together and "rescuing" the cars from the lot. Although this is likely a joke, I will say that railroad police take their jobs seriously, have arresting power, and are armed. It's not a good idea.
If you have any questions, please ask them. I'm not a "know-all" expert, but I have enough knowledge about the rail industry that I'll do my best to help in that regard.
Thanks,
-NSC011099
