Rail Car Shortage

[64bawagon]

The fact that destination charge is the same flat rate to every location in the USA tells you everything you need to know. Every manufacture knows all there cost to the penny - material cost, labor cost, factory floor space cost per square, machine capitalization amortization cost. Most boil it down to material, labor, and burden. Material cost would account for inbound freight. Most Auto OEM's require their suppliers to bid their costs FOB the OEM's dock. This is why the tier suppliers build there plants next to the assembly plant - they pay the freight, the OEM pays a price per unit.

If they were truly just recovering outbound shipping costs - the price would be different based on location.

Its a margin improvement program - always was.

There was a time years ago when you could actually pick up you car or truck at the factory. Pontiac motors and GMC truck both had retail stores in Pontiac that would allow certain folks to do this. When I was younger I worked right next to the Pontiac motors assy plant. My boss bought a new Bonneville around 1980, they delivered it to our work right after it was built.
GM changed their freight charges to a flat rate so that vehicles built in the midwest could be shipped to the West and South and still remain competitive. They still make a tidy profit off of shipping, I have no illusion that any changes are coming.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I was just reading about the Panama canal having to adapt to drought conditions. Some of which is limiting cargo on ships. Here we go again...

The problem is now even worse and some are blaming El Niño.