Take a moment and have a look at the video below.
What you’ll see may look like something totally out of the future but this is 2018 and something very real has launched in our present. Uber has rolled out it’s self-driving truck and is making deliveries nationwide. The creation of a self-driving truck has been with Uber for quite some time now, and the company actually made its first experimental delivery in 2016. Currently, a fleet has started making deliveries full-throttle in Arizona.
Check it out:
Can’t watch right now? No worries. Here’s how it works:
- The shipper schedules the delivery directly on the Uber Freight App (right from their phone).
- A “conventional” truck driver picks up the shipment and brings it to a transfer hub where it will meet the Uber truck.
- The goods are transferred from the conventional truck to the Uber truck.
- The Uber truck then transports the goods along the highway.
- A regular truck then picks up the goods from another transfer hub and brings them the rest of the way.
Many media hubs have covered this seemingly groundbreaking shift in freight forwarding and more can be read about it on CNN or The Verge
As with any emerging technology, the competition is fierce.
Though Uber’s trucks are in fact self-driving, Uber’s trucks do operate alongside real human drivers to oversee the trip. Unlike Uber, Starsky Industries recently drove a 20,000-pound robotic truck with absolutely no driver down Route 833 in Henry, Florida. The company announced this just days after the Uber shipments in Arizona began.
The world of logistics is ever-evolving and we’ll be sure to keep you up to date on these emerging technologies. For now, keep up with our blog and please feel free to contact us with any inquiries regarding freight forwarding you may have.
