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"Factory Gate Routing" -- What Does it Really Mean?

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Does anyone know what the status "factory gate routing" really means, and why a finished car might be stuck there for six weeks?

My Model X came out of production in mid-April, and at that time my DS told me it had entered "factory gate routing" status, and would soon be put into a container to be loaded onto a train to New Jersey and then trucked to Massachusetts.

Six weeks later, and the car's status has not changed: it's still in FGR, sitting in Fremont. It hasn't moved in six weeks.

We're beyond the point where the car could be waiting to be batched with other cars for a shipment east -- my sense is that lots of cars produced since early April have already been delivered.

So what else could explain having a car stuck in this status for so many weeks? If it failed QA and needed rework, I would imagine it would have been in some kind of designated repair status.

I'm surprised my DS hasn't offered to be more proactive about tracking down the issue and sharing the info with me. Isn't that supposed to be one of the benefits of disintermediating the dealers and connecting the DS directly to the factory?

Would appreciate any insight or shared experience...and if anyone from Tesla is lurking...PLEASE HELP LIBERATE MY CAR! :)
 
Does anyone know what the status "factory gate routing" really means, and why a finished car might be stuck there for six weeks?

My Model X came out of production in mid-April, and at that time my DS told me it had entered "factory gate routing" status, and would soon be put into a container to be loaded onto a train to New Jersey and then trucked to Massachusetts.

Six weeks later, and the car's status has not changed: it's still in FGR, sitting in Fremont. It hasn't moved in six weeks.

We're beyond the point where the car could be waiting to be batched with other cars for a shipment east -- my sense is that lots of cars produced since early April have already been delivered.

So what else could explain having a car stuck in this status for so many weeks? If it failed QA and needed rework, I would imagine it would have been in some kind of designated repair status.

I'm surprised my DS hasn't offered to be more proactive about tracking down the issue and sharing the info with me. Isn't that supposed to be one of the benefits of disintermediating the dealers and connecting the DS directly to the factory?

Would appreciate any insight or shared experience...and if anyone from Tesla is lurking...PLEASE HELP LIBERATE MY CAR! :)

Wow that's a really long time. :( I agree your DS should be tracking this down on their own initiative. In the ideal world DS's would be proactive - but many of them are young and inexperienced - Tesla is working out the customer service kinks and staffing up - it will take a while to get DS performance up to the level they want. I would call the DS and ask that he/she specifically track down more info. , if they are unable to do that - say that you understand and ask to speak with their manager and get the mgr email. Follow up with this in writing in an email and perhaps copy customer service at Tesla. Keep it polite and positive - (like you did in your post with the Liberate request).. always helps in any situation - these folks don't have control over the status.

You could be correct that there were QA issues with your car - I'm pretty sure their status updates are not that sophisticated and don't accurately reflect one off situations (timing seems to be right for a batch that had some problems) and it could be that you just missed the last shipment and are going to be on the next one? I would wait to tweet Elon till you see what happens with your DS/DS mgr/customer service inquiry. There are reports of a few one off - longer than average reported wait times.. but that does happen in mfg situations. I would like to see more accurate updates given our investment - but I knew this is an evolving process and have no interest in dealing with the franchise system and inflated prices. I like dealing directly with the manufacturer and will put up with the evolution/revolution;)

You don't have your car info in your signature (see mine) so it's hard to see what batch you may have been with.

I'm really interested in how this goes. I'm on east coast and my car finished production and went to Factory gate on 5/26 - expectation is that it would go to West Coast rail hub where it will be loaded on to train headed to east coast... expect mid-late June. We will see how this pans out.

Good luck and keep us posted on status. Others may have additional suggestions that may help.:)
 
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I would wait to tweet Elon till you see what happens with your DS/DS mgr/customer service inquiry.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply, @VABarb. And yes, I have often thought of tweeting Elon (like "pulling the red handle"), but I have resisted being heavy-handed like that. I think your counsel about documenting the DS steps is good, and I'll do that right now.

I observe that your car's specs are almost identical to mine -- clearly you have great taste! I hope your car comes more quickly than mine!

P.S. Thanks for the tip about the signature. I've corrected that!
 
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Thank you for your thoughtful reply, @VABarb. And yes, I have often thought of tweeting Elon (like "pulling the red handle"), but I have resisted being heavy-handed like that. I think your counsel about documenting the DS steps is good, and I'll do that right now.

I observe that your car's specs are almost identical to mine -- clearly you have great taste! I hope your car comes more quickly than mine!

P.S. Thanks for the tip about the signature. I've corrected that!

Your car may be in same rail transport group as mine - since they are both at Factory gate and need to go to east coast.
 
While it's possible that there was a QC issue with your vehicle, it's also possible that they're having sourcing problems with a component.

It would appear that Tesla held onto cars for various reasons like:
- lack of black onyx rims
- recall of 3rd row seats
- redesign of ultra-white interior to improve wearability
 
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Do you know whether your rail destination is via New Jersey?

FWIW - Here is what I have found (yes I'm a geek)
Disclaimer - all of this info is based on my research and I could be completely off base and wrong. Don't take this as any more than one persons WAG..o_O:eek: Hopefully others will chime in and correct or add value to this (nah that will never happen:p) .... thx:)

Bottom line - rail transport is not straight forward and I am sure there are others that have better info than this. But hey.. it gives me something to focus on while waiting for my X.... ;)

I think post production time could be broken into three stages 1)waiting to get Full load for rail shipping 2)rail shipping 3)end staging and truck transport to final location. I can see why the old truck shipment from factory to destination would be faster. However that is more expensive, larger carbon footprint and using enclosed rail cars gives our vehicles more protection from road damage.
  • From Fremont - cars can go out of San Francisco or Sacramento(a bit further)
  • Based on my research there are several types of rail transport cars. The most likely to use is a bi-level car that would take up to 10 vehicles (there is a tri-level but that has height limits and specifies 'automobiles' not SUV's - I think height of X prohibits three levels of X's - I am not sure if they ship mixed loads X & S's)
  • I found a reference to a 'Full load' being 6 rail cars. If that is the case - it makes sense that they would wait to get up to 60 vehicles going to a destination in order to leverage shipping costs.
  • Routing for east coast: Looks like main routes are thru Chicago (largest rail transport center in US) or Kansas city, there may be a southern route or they use KC to go south. From that point - your guess is as good as mine.. I think it depends on final loc for loads and when it makes sense to transfer to truck for final leg. For example it may be KC to Atlanta to Jacksonville then by truck to Fl locations or Chicago to Philadelphia then to north/south locations via truck.
  • I Inserted the simplest rail map used (tried to eliminate the many train travel routes and focus on shipping) :

  • upload_2016-5-30_12-19-23.png
 
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Hahaha, @VABarb -- great that you found all that spare time on a holiday weekend!

Some of the other fragments of (unverified) coast-to-coast transport info I've picked up verify that rail shipments to the East Coast do, indeed, go through Chicago, which can be a switching nightmare (potential delays of a week or more), and that the next destination for the northeast tends to be New Jersey (ironically, since NJ tried to ban Teslas from being sold directly to consumers). From there, everything gets trucked to the local SC.

I'll let you know if I find anything else out.
 
Hahaha, @VABarb -- great that you found all that spare time on a holiday weekend!

Some of the other fragments of (unverified) coast-to-coast transport info I've picked up verify that rail shipments to the East Coast do, indeed, go through Chicago, which can be a switching nightmare (potential delays of a week or more), and that the next destination for the northeast tends to be New Jersey (ironically, since NJ tried to ban Teslas from being sold directly to consumers). From there, everything gets trucked to the local SC.

I'll let you know if I find anything else out.

Thx
We are fighting that now in Virginia.... Dealers/good old boy network fighting Tesla selling directly.. All of the states that ban direct mfg sales are rooted in the dealer franchise network and are arcane protectionist rules in favor of the dealer. No consumer benefit - just raises prices for consumers. The dealers either want a piece of the action or don't want the competition and are disguising it as 'we want to protect the consumers'. I call BS.... We have free market system - and should be able to purchase where we want. DMV in Va is on third hearing for Tesla request to open store in Richmond (in addition to one in Tysons Corner).
 
FWIW - Here is what I have found (yes I'm a geek)
  • ail transport center in US) or Kansas city, there may be a southern route or they use KC to go south. From that point - your guess is as good as mine.. I think it depends on final loc for loads and when it makes sense to transfer to truck for final leg. For example it may be KC to Atlanta to Jacksonville then by truck to Fl locations or Chicago to Philadelphia then to north/south locations via truck.
So what I was told is the cars go by rail to a hub in Alabama where they get put onto trucks for delivery to VA/MD. My SC is in Rockville, but that's not far from Tysons. As far as i know my vehicle is still not moving from CA. Is yours?

BTW, MD passed a bill allowing up to 6 Tesla stores, but so far no new ones have opened...
 
So what I was told is the cars go by rail to a hub in Alabama where they get put onto trucks for delivery to VA/MD. My SC is in Rockville, but that's not far from Tysons. As far as i know my vehicle is still not moving from CA. Is yours?

BTW, MD passed a bill allowing up to 6 Tesla stores, but so far no new ones have opened...

I am assuming that the next update will be when my car arrives or to set up a delivery appointment. This is based on the very high level updates I have received so far - eg - your car is in production, your car is done production and waiting on transport. Unlike some others that get a much more granular level of information - I saw one guy got an update that said: 'your car is moving from frame welding" or something like that... either a very creative DS or one that has the time to get that level of info. I am sure the number of customers the DS supports influences this.

Congratulations on MD passing bill. Hopefully this helps other states. If Tesla does not win in VA... I can go to MD and spend my money there! (I grew up in Bethesda and have a sister in Frederick - so I'm very familiar with the areas). In VA the fight is at the DMV level now (Tesla vs Dealers association) but all transcripts will be pulled into any battle at the court level in the future. Our third hearing is July 1 9am at the DMV offices in Richmond. Assuming it does not go longer - the hearing officer then presents his findings to the DMV commissioner who makes the decision if Tesla can open a second location. No idea how long that will take.
 
@VABarb Congratulations!! Looking forward to hearing about what your delivery experience is like at Tyco location. That's where I will be picking up mine...hopefully in July/August at some point. Fingers/toes crossed. :D

Post some pics if you can/want to!
 
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@VABarb I think you're really going to like that color combination. I was nervous about mine (a twin to yours), but it is truly gorgeous! Good luck -- the build quality of mine was worth the wait. I suspect there had been some rework because of the long delay in "factory gate routing", but so far (four days)...FLAWLESS.
 
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