Magazine for the car and truck fleet and leasing industry
Issue link: https://autofleet.epubxp.com/i/186381
ORDER-TO-DELIVERY 2013 ORDER-TO-DELIVERY TIMES: TRUCKS TRUCK MODELS However, when Superstorm Sandy swept through the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast last fall, vehicle deliveries were severely afected. "Flooding and power outages impeded carrier routes and signifcantly hindered railcar deliveries. Certain major ocean ports were shut down, body upftter and dealership locations were closed, and the over-theroad transport companies stopped deliveries until road conditions improved," Freund said. "Wheels tracked down hundreds of vehicles and maintained communication directly with manufacturers as they helped augment our eforts to identify the location of our vehicles and dealer conditions." Weather also caused rerouting of newvehicle rail shipments. "Unrelated to Sandy, last spring, heavy rains across the Midwest caused the rail companies to reroute cars west from Chicago through St. Louis and other gateways. Chicago and Kansas City are main rail hubs and disruptions delayed some deliveries for up to a week," Freund said. However, these storms primarily impacted dealerships. "Weather did play a small contribution to OTD delays throughout this model-year. Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Nemo caused damage to vehicles, dealer closures, and railcar delays. Te number of Donlen vehicles that were damaged was minimal and, although dealers may have reopened within a few days, the dealers were not ready for customers to pick up their vehicles or transporters to deliver vehicles to their dealership," said Gomez of Donlen. When assessing the signifcant weather events in the 2013 model-year, Hurricane Sandy had the greatest impact on OTD. "Hurricane Sandy was the major weather news for the year. When it hit New York and New Jersey at the end of October 2012, it caused major damage, fooding, and power outages to the Northeast. Many area dealers sustained extensive damage and, in some cases, entire dealer inventories were wiped out. Vehicle shipments to the area were stopped as many transportation routes were impassable or down due to losing power," said Tangney of Emkay. "Vehicles at dealerships and enroute to dealerships had to be inspected as insurance adjusters were called in to evaluate the vehicles. We had many totaled vehicles that clients had to submit replace22 AUTOMOTIVE FLEET I OCTOBER 2013 2013 Ford F-Series Super Duty 2013 Ford F-Series (F-150/ F-250/F-350) 2013 GMC Sierra 2013 Chevrolet Silverado (combined) 2013 Toyota Tundra 2013 Ram (combined) 2013 Toyota Tacoma 2013 Nissan Titan Fastest OTD – trucks 53 DAYS ment factory orders for or purchase outof-stock vehicles, but vehicle inventories were much depleted. All of the manufacturers kept us supplied with status updates to their rail or transportation hubs, as well as which dealers regained power and were back up and accepting vehicle shipments." Hurricane Sandy was also cited as a factor in OTD delays by Nathan Niese, operations manager, vehicle acquisition for LeasePlan USA. "In the fall of 2012, Hurricane Sandy impacted order-to-delivery by causing NIESE interruptions in shipping channels and delays at destination ramps and dealers. In addition, hailstorms in spring 2013 contributed to order-to-delivery delays," said Niese. Te silver lining is that there were no further major weather-related issues for the remainder of the model-year, other than hail damage. "Hail in the Western regions caused vehicle delays due to repairs and total losses," said McHUGH McHugh of ARI. Tangney, likewise, cited hail damage that occurred in the spring of 2013. 2013-MY OTD (DAYS) 53 2012-MY OTD (DAYS) N/A CHANGE (DAYS) N/A 58 84 -26 60 67 70 72 78 98 67 66 96 74 80 94 -7 1 -26 -2 -2 4 "Te spring always has its share of hailstorms, and this past year was no exception. Midwest plants and transportation hubs were hit by hail, in some cases damaging hundreds of vehicles. Tese vehicles had to be inspected, repaired, or deemed undeliverable and needed to be reordered," Tangney said. But, despite several signifcant storms, weather had a negligible impact on OTD, compared to prior, more calamitous years. "Compared to previous years, there were minimal weather challenges. With the exception of some delays due to Hurricane Sandy and the tornado in the Midwest earlier in the spring, the motor companies quickly resolved any logistical issues," said Kokos of PHH Arval. Severe inclement weather, especially on the Atlantic seaboard, also delayed shipment of import-badged vehicles parked at ports awaiting transport by rail and car haulers. "Te early blizzards in the Northeast didn't signifcantly impact any delivery experiences for us in 2013; however, Hurricane Sandy proved to be a little bit more impactful for our customers who ordered import vehicles and had vehicles sitting at port," said Groth of GE Capital Fleet Services. Rail-Related & Car Hauler Issues Continue to Impact OTD Te ongoing shortage of railcars continued to be an issue impacting feet OTD, which was compounded by seasonal railcar constraints. "As is typical in the frst quarter of the year, most manufacturers experienced railcar shortages as import automakers made a fnal volume push for their fscal year, which ended March 31. ARI experienced minimal shipping delays from February through April as a result, and order-todelivery timelines were only slightly