20 C
New York

Tesla buys unknown number of trucking companies to speed up deliveries

Published:

Tesla founder Elon Musk says that he has made major acquisitions in trucking in order to ease the “delivery logistics hell” of getting customers their Model 3s on time.

On Thursday, November 15, Musk announced via tweet that he had “acquired trucking capacity” in order to ensure that customers would receive delivery of the Model 3 before the end of the year.

Musk elaborated:

We bought some trucking companies & secured contracts with major haulers to avoid trucking shortage mistake of last quarter.

It isn’t clear what trucking companies Musk has bought or partnered with, but TechCrunch speculates that Tesla has likely purchased at least one smaller trucking company that it has worked with in the past.

Model 3s ordered prior to the end of the year will likely still qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit, which is spurring many customers to order now.

Musk also noted that he preferred trucks over rail for delivery: “Skipping rail saves over a month for East Coast deliveries. All things considered, it’s better to use trucks. Single load/unload & direct to owner location.”

Earlier this year, Musk puzzled many members of the trucking community by blaming Model 3 delivery delays on an “extreme shortage” of car carrier trailers. Musk even went so far as to say that Tesla would start manufacturing car carrier trailers in order to speed up distribution.

FREE! NEW FEATURES!

Discuss your Routes with other Truckers

Start Now   →
JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER

Get the hottest daily trucking news

This Week in Trucking

Videos