Welcome to the WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Newsletter. In this issue, final mile fails; LEGO HQ moves to Boston; Tesla’s new Semi factory and more.

Pivot!

So close yet sofa away — When Luke Ansell ordered a new couch for his home he thought he’d be lounging in comfort instead of sitting on a big problem. Things went awry when designersofas4u.co.uk’s “White Glove” service team showed up to deliver his couch but failed to pivot when bringing it up to his second floor.

According to the BBC, “The sofa company’s delivery men got it wedged but left saying they had no time to rectify it.” To add insult to injury, despite a badly damaged hallway, the delivery crew allegedly asked Ansell to sign a POD.

To the company’s credit, they accepted full responsibility and will now require their drivers to wear body cams. However, when they send a new couch it will be curbside delivery only.

What’s your final mile horror story? —I asked the freight community what some of their delivery nightmares were and here’s what they had to say:

What’s he really doing on the iPhone?

Ladies, if your man is
-acting nervous
-being suspicious around you
-checking his phone every 2 mins
-up all night
-pissed off all the time

He’s not cheating. His dispatcher can’t find him a good load to leave on a trip.

— usa_transportation (@bob_kruz_) January 24, 2023

Twitter

LEGO North American HQ moves to Boston

LEGO 90th Anniversary Timeline — The LEGO Group

Bricks hit beantown – Big news for Boston as The LEGO Group has announced that they’re moving their North American HQ from Enfield, Connecticut to the hub in 2026. WCVB reports that the company will help workers with financial assistance for the relocation.

“Apparently only 18 of every million pieces produced is defective.” – Supply Chain Game Changer

The automatic binding bricks supply chain – Supply Chain Game Changer recently broke down the complexity of LEGO’s supply chain. Did you know that the foot caltrop maker produces over 200 million foot destroyers every day of the year? Now time to make those of you on the inventory side’s eyes water: across those 200 million bricks there are over 3,700 unique pieces with their own SKUs.

So, how do they assemble all those kits? Turns out it’s a highly automated process using injection molding and optical sensors. As someone who has built some massive sets, including the 9000pc Titanic, there is no worse panic than thinking you may be short a key brick…fortunately I haven’t had a missing one yet.

Tesla Semi charges while Cybertruck remains in park

Plugged in – EV influencer Omar Qazi got his hands on some new photos of Tesla’s Semi that show off the charger and the Eye of Sauron. While an in-cab camera in a tech enabled truck like the Semi was to be expected, it could keep some drivers from warming up to Elon’s big rig. According to a survey taken in 2021, 68% of drivers claim they’d never give up their privacy by driving a truck with a front facing camera.

Just yesterday, Tesla announced, “It is investing $3.6 billion to build two new factories in Nevada, including a facility to mass produce its all-electric Class 8 Semi truck.” Batteries for the Cybertruck will also be produced here. About that Cybertruck…

Wait until next year, again – If you preordered a Cybertruck in ‘19 like me, you’ve heard this one before. Production will begin in ‘21, nope ‘22, how about ‘23? If you bought all that, Elon has a new mass production year for you, ‘24. To make matters worse, the price and specs are supposed to change. Not only that but the EV pickup landscape has changed radically since ‘19 with Ford, GMC, Rivian, Dodge and Chevy all bringing their EVs to market. Despite all that, Tesla did report record revenue and beat on earnings for Q4.

State of Freight on demand

What’s up with rates and supply chains – Join FreightWaves founder and CEO, Craig Fuller, and head of market intelligence, Zach Strickland on demand for a conversation sharing critical insights from our SONAR platform, industry expertise, and an advanced look into the freight market to discuss strategies that will set your team up for success this year.

They’ll cover:

The current state of the freight market
What this means for your supply chain, customers, and success
What to expect in early 2023
What freight rates will mean to broader economic and inflationary pressures
Macroeconomic influences to pay close attention to relative to your 2023 plans
How to win your bid events and stay ahead long after the season ends
Critical insights from 2022 and strategies for success in 2023
Engage with our experts to get your own questions answered live
Take away actionable insights to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and mitigate risk

Register now to rewatch the market calls.

WTT Friday

NASA’s sustainability takes flight and University of Arkansas supply chain students soar — On Friday’s episode of WHAT THE TRUCK?!? we’re talking to NASA about their $425 million partnership with Boeing to build, test, and fly a full-scale demonstrator aircraft and validate technologies aimed at lowering emissions.

The University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business takes us inside the world of Supply Chain higher education as we meet the students and educators tasked with creating the next generation of supply chain leaders. You won’t want to miss this if you’re a student or are looking to get a masters in supply chain management!

With special guests Sarah Waechter, partner manager at NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and Brent Cobleigh, chief of staff at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center; Brian Fugate and David Dobrzykowski at The University of Arkansas.

Catch new shows live at noon ET Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on FreightWavesTV, FreightWaves LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube or on demand by looking up WHAT THE TRUCK?!? on your favorite podcast player. Now on demand

Used truck bubbles, alliance breakups and the impact of layoffs