Leaked email reveals Tesla is asking employees to help deliver cars during the final weeks of 2019

Hollis Johnson/Business InsiderThe Tesla Model 3.

• Tesla's delivery department is "facing a significant shortage of volunteers" for the final weeks of the year, the electric-car maker told employees in an email obtained by Business Insider.
• The email was sent on Tuesday by Bert Bruggeman, Tesla's vice president of manufacturing at its Fremont, California, vehicle assembly plant.
• The demands placed on the company's delivery department have grown over time, as Tesla has set quarterly delivery records in eight of the past nine quarters, and expects to do the same in the fourth quarter of this year.
• Tesla has in the past recruited employees from a variety of departments to deliver vehicles at the end of a quarter, suggesting that the company's delivery staff has at times not been large enough to handle peak workloads.
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Tesla's delivery department is "facing a significant shortage of volunteers" for the final weeks of the year, the electric-car maker told employees in an email obtained by Business Insider.

Bert Bruggeman, Tesla's vice president of manufacturing at its Fremont, California, vehicle assembly plant, sent the email on Tuesday. The email includes a link to a form where employees can sign up to help deliver vehicles.

"If you are able to help, please sign up," the email says.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At Tesla, a delivery can involve driving a vehicle to a customer's home, or guiding a customer through the final stages of the buying process at one of the company's delivery centers. The demands placed on the company's delivery department have grown over time, as Tesla has set quarterly delivery records in eight of the past nine quarters, and expects to do the same in the fourth quarter of this year.

Earlier this month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told employees that "making sure all cars are delivered to their customers" was one of his two biggest priorities for the end of this year.

Tesla has in the past recruited employees from a variety of departments to deliver vehicles at the end of a quarter, suggesting that the company's delivery staff has at times not been large enough to handle peak workloads. In one case, CEO Elon Musk even asked for assistance from Tesla customers.

In October, Tesla announced internally an initiative designed to merge the roles of its sales and delivery employees. Called One Motion, the initiative's intention is to give each customer a single point of contact when buying a vehicle, four current and former employees told Business Insider.

Are you a current or former Tesla employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com. You can ask for more secure methods of communication, like Signal or ProtonMail, by email or Twitter direct message.

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