Hi Folks,
The F3s and Amtrak cars are in a container waiting for the vessel to pick them up, on or about July 17th. We've been ready since June, but you can't get a schedule even when you agree to pay an extra $6000 for the container. That's right, $6000 more, on top of the regular $3500 costs. For us, this hits in my pocket, because when there are unexpected expenses they come out of the bottom line, ME. I want to thank those of you that already sent in your payments. It really helps since we are having to wait longer than usual to receive these even after we've paid for them all in June. In fact the whole process of making these projects is slower because I am not able to be there to make the decisions, to catch the errors early which saves time.
Then we are pumping money into the Krauss Maffei, HO SP AC9, C&O Hudsons, all in production right now. And next is the SP Daylights for the Aluminum car factory. So delays in receiving product is very frustrating and challenging when your trying to juggle all these oranges.
Here's a news article describing the current situation with containers:
https://www.joc.com/maritime-n...g-woes_20210608.html
This situation is due to shortages of container and ships, record levels of importing due to the shift in buying patterns in the US, slow downs at the ports due to COVID. Greed, posturing by bigger corporations buying futures in containers, leaving less for the smaller shipper to fight over. It's market forces that will eventually work themselves out. I am reading about more ship lines coming to the business, more vessels being brought back to service. The moment there is oversupply in capacity the prices will come down. I dream of taking my 60ft schooner (I wish) and picking up the shipment and sailing it home. Dream on...
The Korean guy in the middle runs the small factory that makes all the Aluminum cars. "Hi Mr. Kim. You need to eat more. You look thinner than when I saw you in December of 2019." He's normally a very thin guy. Very kind, compassionate, soft spoken which is very important when negotiating, solving problems and making corrections. We both give a little along the process. He's married to a Chinese woman and has 2 kids in their teens living in China. In China a foreigner cannot easly own and run a company in China, so their wife usually owns the business.
I think his kids attend a Korean school in the area. Really nice folks. I feel bad when I see something wrong and have to ask for a big correction. His wife is always there by his side working with him, pad printing, doing decals, managing their unskilled staff. And when I ask for a correction, I usually get a slap in the shoulder and bulging eyes telling me of her disapproval. But they do the corrections anyway, because they know it's for you, the customer.
And I pay them extra for it. Below is the factory working on the Rock Island Rocket cars. Mrs. Kim is standing next to our Production Manager. Many of the unskilled workers move from one Model train factory to another as needed. They've all known each other for many years as Mr. Kim used to be an engineer for one of the major model train manufactures before he struck out on his own.
Once I have an ETA schedule from our freight forwarder, I'll send out final notices for these projects.
To All: Have a great summer.
