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Elon Musk blames “extreme shortage” of car carrier trailers for Tesla Model 3 delivery delays

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Tesla founder Elon Musk has many people within the trucking industry scratching their heads after he blamed slow distribution of the Tesla Model 3 on a shortage of car carrier trailers.

In response to a customer complaint on Monday, September 26, from a customer who placed an early order for a Tesla Model 3 All Wheel Drive (AWD) back in June but has yet to receive the car, Musk offered up an interesting excuse, blaming the distribution delays on an “extreme shortage” of car carrier trailers.

Musk went so far as to say that Tesla would start manufacturing car carrier trailers in order to speed up distribution.

Musk’s claims about the “extreme shortage” of trailers has left many trucking industry insiders confused. Guy Young, general manager of the Auto Haulers Association of America told the LA Times, “There’s no shortage that I know of. There’s a general shortage of drivers, but we’ve got a lot of members with drivers and car carriers who could supply what they need.”

Others have expressed doubt about Tesla’s ability to successfully build car carrier trailers that meet regulatory standards. Frank Maly of ACT Research said, “If they’re talking about building [trailers] from the ground up, that would be a surprise to me.”

This is not the first time that Musk has blamed slow delivery of Teslas on the trucking industry. Earlier this month, Musk again replied to a customer’s complaints about delivery delays via Twitter: “Sorry, we’ve gone from production hell to delivery logistics hell, but this problem is far more tractable. We’re making rapid progress. Should be solved shortly.”

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