How does Ford distribute their cars from manufacture to delivery at retail sales location?

I'm trying to write a paper on different distribution methods used and I can't find anything about how Ford takes a new car and gets it to the dealer. Do they ship it on train or truck? Who pays for the shipping? What is the entire distribution process?

Depends on how far away the dealer is. For close work, they use the semi-truck car haulers. Next up is freight trains with car carrying box cars. The cars are then unloaded onto the semi-truck car haulers & distributed to the dealers. Also, the dealers can swap individual cars around but driving them to another dealer. Last is a ocean-going ship set-up as a drive-on drive-off delivery to a foreign port. From there they can use the three delivery methods to distribute the cars to the different dealers.

I'll add to Rick's answer by saying that shipping cost is added to the cost that dealers pay the manufacturer (Ford does it the same as all other manufacturers). It's called a destination fee, or destination charge, or destination and delivery charge. The cost is passed on to customers with no mark-up.

The destination fee varies by manufacturer and often by vehicle model, but every dealer pays the same amount regardless of how far the vehicle had to be shipped. A dealer next door to the factory pays the same as a dealer across the country.

Interestingly, the customer pays the same "shipping" no matter how far away.

So no discount if you are nearby or penalty if you are not.

How does Ford distribute their cars? Air Water Land

I got a slide show to do