Tesla owners volunteer to help with 'delivery hell'

Tesla volunteers said they believed they were helping to improve the environment and preserve American jobs by aiding the electric-car maker's end-of-quarter push that achieved a record 83,500 deliveries for July-September.

Volunteers were Tesla owners who gave vehicle orientations to new buyers.

"If you've never owned a Tesla, it can be a longer conversation," said Phil Gorski, president of the Tesla Owners Club of Portland, Ore. "If there were new folks, or older folks, or people who just needed an extra hand, some of our volunteers were with customers for upwards of 45 minutes to an hour."

Tesla said last week it sold 55,840 Model 3 sedans, 14,470 Model S sedans and 13,190 Model X crossovers in the quarter. The company exceeded its guidance of 50,000 to 55,000 Model 3s for the quarter. Tesla mobilized its volunteer army as the company's yearlong struggle to increase Model 3 production, which CEO Elon Musk termed "production hell," gave way to "delivery logistics hell."

Gorski said club members began volunteering shortly after Musk encouraging owners to help with deliveries. Tesla provided guidelines for volunteers.

Owners from Oregon and southwest Washington helped between Sept. 22 and Sept. 30, Gorski said, with as many as 15 showing up each day on weekends. Tesla's main delivery center in Portland was open until 11 p.m. Sept. 29 and 10 p.m. Sept. 30 to handle the push, Gorski said.

"People were frustrated. It took a lot longer than they expected," he said. "But no one was angry and no one made a scene."

The Portland store delivered about 120 vehicles on Sept. 29 and targeted another 100 on Sept. 30, said Debbie Jimmerson, one of about 10 volunteers who helped deliver vehicles over the weekend. Jimmerson and her husband own two Tesla Model 3s. They drove two hours from Lincoln Beach, Ore., to help at the Portland store.

"I never thought I'd be spending a weekend helping to deliver cars," Jimmerson said, adding that she believed her work was helping support the environment and American jobs.

Other volunteers echoed Jimmerson's belief in Tesla's environmental mission, saying they were happy to share their passion with new owners and answer questions about the vehicles. Gorski said local Tesla Owners Club members become passionate about the company for a number of reasons, including the vehicles' performance and eco-friendliness and the brand's high-tech appeal.

Musk blamed the delivery problems in part on an "extreme shortage of car carriers," saying that Tesla would start building its own.

Guy Young, general manager of the Auto Haulers Association of America, disputed Musk's claim, telling the Los Angeles Times, "We've got a lot of members with drivers and car carriers who could supply what they need."

Tesla has become dependent on truck deliveries since a Union Pacific rail spur at its Fremont, Calif., factory was removed to make room for a test track.

Mike Ramsey, automotive research director at Gartner, said the end-of-quarter push had less to do with a lack of car carriers and more to do with Tesla's business model. The company started the quarter trying to build vehicles based on existing orders.

"But as it becomes clear that they can't reach the numbers they need to get to, then they start producing batches of the most popular trims and colors and then trying to align them with orders coming in," Ramsey said. "This is why there is such a discrepancy between the wait times for different Model 3 trims."

But the system leaves Tesla with a glut of vehicles awaiting delivery.

"The problems it creates when it overproduces are bigger because there's nowhere to put the cars," Ramsey said. "Without dealers to return working capital to the business, they have to do these crazy end-of-quarter delivery pushes because they need the money."

The automaker has had considerable turnover in its logistics and sales and service operations. This year, Tesla has lost Jon McNeill, former president of global sales, marketing, delivery and service; and Karim Bousta, former vice president of worldwide service and customer experience. Both went to ride-hailing company Lyft.

Since June, Tesla also lost its delivery operations program manager for the Model 3 to Amazon, its senior outbound logistics manager to Facebook and a logistics manager to the farming technology company Plenty, according to a review of LinkedIn profiles.

With hundreds of job postings for positions prepping and delivering cars, Tesla appears to be trying to expand its delivery operation, but volunteers assume their work isn't over. Gorski and Jimmerson expect to help with the next end-of-quarter push in December.

"If they do ask for our help again, which I anticipate they will, we'll be a little more dialed in," Gorski said. "We'll get to practice with our group of volunteers and try to get deliveries down to 20 minutes."