Logistics/Shipping MTC Members Around?-Question

[dusty1787]

Hey everyone! If this fits better in another section, could you please move it? But Quick Question for anyone who has dealt with shipping/logistics before and could maybe give their $0.02 (or if you have actual train/rail experience or manufacturing would possibly work too). I have no real experience and only slightly understand on how it would work, so hoping some others can assist.

I am still waiting for my Mav to be shipped out (not sure if its just staged on a train, or parked in a lot waiting for one at Hermosillo) but the status is "awaiting shipment". As its been a week, I wanted to ask about how would Ford or the rail company ship them out. I read a bunch of posts on MTC where people had their Mav shipped out within a day or two post Built, but some longer...but why could that be? few answers I seen was dealing with shipping reasons.

Thats where I hope some of you with experience could elaborate on your thoughts. Currently I did not see anything on MTC that may explain how the rail/shipping works, so I figured I would ask.

-Would Ford or the rail company fill up a train with any Mavs they can right at Hermosillo and ship them out to the largest nearest hub to then remove them from the train cars and pack them into others for specific hubs? IE remove them from Hermosillo ASAP and get them somewhere else to organize/ship out to the correct hubs?
-Would they make a full train destined to one region with just Mavs to that regions hub?
-What I am thinking is that they would they fill specific rail cars with Mavs to specific hubs along the way to the furthest hub, and stop at corresponding hubs. IE last rail car is going to the North east...so fill rail cars with Mavs to the southwest hub (where it comes into the US), rail cars full of Mavs to central US hub, maybe midwest hub, then northeast hub....dropping those rail cars off as they go through them? But not until they get a full rail car would they ship the rail car out on that train? But do they also have to schedule when the train could get to the Northeast, like with some government transport body as there are few rail tracks and many trains?

Whatever the reason, would Ford/railyard have to wait for those specific locomotives to come back with rail cars now empty to fill up and send out again? or should they have enough to keep it running, or have to wait days for those trains to return to refill? I am just trying to figure out how a bunch seemed to have the vehicles shipped out almost immediately and a few others have to wait weeks before it was shipped.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and I am aware that we may not actually know the actual answer. But maybe it would help me understand more if others on here have experience of logistics/shipping.

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[reddyk]

Great question. My Maverick was built 9/7 and shows shipped 9/8. The next step is "Final Preparation" which I assume is at my dealer. I am in NE Florida so is it a week, a month or more before I get my truck ?

 

[Emc66]

Well if Ford employees authorize an official strike tonight, no body will be receiving any Maverick’s as Teamsters have already vowed solidarity, from the articles I read this afternoon, so everything will most likely come to a grinding halt no matter how many rail cars are loaded, once they make it to their unloading point my guess is they will simply sit.

 

[paneubert]

They stay on the same rail-car (called an Auto Rack) from the time they are loaded in Mexico until they are unloaded "close to your dealership". Then it is loaded on a semi-truck or hotshot truck with trailer to be transported to your dealership.

When I say "close to your dealership", "close" is relative. For example, trucks headed to all of Washington State are unloaded from the train in Portland Oregon and then travel the potentially hundreds of remaining miles by road.

While traveling by rail, the Auto Rack often is detached and reattached to a new locomotive/string of Auto Racks. If you are tracking closely, you will notice your rail-car was moving along at a pretty good pace, then suddenly sat at a location for 6-72 hours that if you Google well enough, ends up being a "mixing center" or other massive junction yard that spiderwebs out different directions. Sits there waiting for the right locomotive and other chunk of rail-cars to be ready to go.

This is an Auto Rack.

 

[paneubert]

Not super interesting to you probably since you are not on the West Coast, but here are some fun rail maps. Depending on the railroad carrying yours, you can probably find similar maps. These are BNSF.

 

[thescher]

Wait a minute- the UAW is going on strike not the Teamsters - right. It shouldn’t affect built one already shipped.

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