Over the past few years, multiple services have launched which have been billed as “Uber for trucking,” claiming to provide reliable on-demand freight options as conveniently as Uber provides on-demand taxi services. Now though there’s a new “Uber for trucking” emerging: Uber. The transportation giant has officially entered the trucking world.
It was announced on Thursday that Uber is purchasing Otto, a startup co-founded by the former head of Google Maps and one of Google’s top driverless technology engineers. Rather than building an autonomous truck from scratch like many competitors, Otto plans to allow truckers and carriers to install their system on existing trucks to give them autonomous driving capabilities.
In the press release announcing the purchase, Travis Kalanick, founder and CEO of Uber wrote about how “over one million people die on the world’s roads every year and 90 percent of these accidents are due to human error.” With self-driving technology in both cars and trucks, Kalanick believes that those numbers would go way down.
While not explicitly stated in Kalanick’s press release, the acquisition of Otto gives Uber a very clear path toward branching out into on-demand freight with (eventually) driverless trucks. Bloomberg reports that the company has told them they plan to start breaking into long haul trucking in the US.
They are already set to experiment with driverless Uber cars in Pittsburgh starting next month.
To begin with, the “driverless” Ubers will have drivers sitting at the wheel and a specially trained ‘co-pilot’ to ensure safety during the testing phase. As Bloomberg states however, the end goal will be very different. “The goal: to replace Uber’s more than 1 million human drivers with robot drivers—as quickly as possible.”
By the time that happens, Uber freight may be just a phone tap away.
Source: truckinginfo, uber, overdrive, fortune, nytimes
RSONS says
So what will happen to humans having to make a living for their families? We are becoming more like the science fiction movies that terrify us. The machine will eventually replace us all!!!
RheumTrucker says
“NECESSITY is the MOTHER of INVENTION”
Many of us are worried about what happens to our livelihood when new invention/technology pushes us out; and so we should be.
The hard truth however, is that this has been going on since the dawn of civilization.
Take a quick look at the history of the fulling mill for example- before this appeared in around 1200 AD the art of fulling wool took an apprenticeship of 6 years to learn. To obtain 1kg of low quality wool it took 6.6 12 hour workdays. High quality wool took 71 to 81 workdays! If you were a journeyman fuller you were a valuable citizen and could support your family. Then along came this new machine that used water to not only do your job, but do it better & faster.
With ever changing industrial innovation that spans human history, will continue through present day and far beyond our lifetimes, we have two choices- embrace it, use it, and move forward; or give up and be left in the dust.
fletcher says
what will happen to the jobs in America if we continue to let this type attitude prevail, 330 millions people and growing, there are not many job already, now we want machine to do more and eliminate other opportunities. There is a time for technology, however technology should use to enhance not eliminate human
for quality of life. When the jobs are gone what r we going to do.
Shaina says
Wait, didn’t the self driving trucks crash during their first test?
RheumTrucker says
So did the first airplanes.
Larry says
A driverless car or truck ? Humm . Wonder what software will be powering it. It had better be a dam sight more secure than any software systems we have now.
Windows , iOS, and Linus have all been repeatedly hacked.
Imagine a country full of driverless vehicles . A terrorist , or just a nut job, hacks the system. The damage could be catastrophic .
Just a thought….
Chet says
Iran hacked and landed one of our drones. They will hack the car and drive it in to a crowd. The death rate won’t change. There is no Utopia. The Progressives get richer and the middle class dies.
ja says
great way to put people out of work
Anthony says
It’s already been proven that these computers can be hacked…One person has already died depending on this technology, and they want to put this into BIG RIGS??!! Forgive me for being pesemistic, but this is a recipe for disaster!!!
Sarah says
Yes I agree and I’m a truck driver.
Mother trucker says
I want to see proof that it saves lives. It is bs…if they are so concerned why don’t they teach four wheelers how to drive
Disappointed says
There ultimate goal is to take jobs from families that need the money, how American.
Jim O'Brien says
“There ultimate goal is to take jobs from families that need the money, how American.”
Ridiculous comment. “They?” Get a life.
Mr. Curmudgeon says
I expect to see this in crossdock and distribution center applications before seeing it on road. In a way, it makes sense at a DC, lower speeds, limited amount of traffic, controlled access. Obviously, the mechanism of the drop/hook/connect air would need to be standardized somehow.
MamaBear says
Californian docks are already purchasing them for intermodal trailer movement.
James says
What about the jobs that would be lost.? This guy is a lunatic
Lee Tibbetts says
So, what happens to all these humans that rely on these jobs to support their families? Will they start eliminating humans next?
Paul says
“With self-driving technology in both cars and trucks…”
There’s your answer. NO HUMANS. We’re being sold out for someone elses’ profit.
Mother trucker says
Exactly… Just like if they had a cure for cancer do u think they would tell us.
Cuz it brings in too much money
Josh says
They will just have to find something else to make a living but this isn’t limited to just trucking!
Joe says
The hard truth is that no one else owes you or your family support, it’s your responsibility to earn it. A career that can be replaced by technology is not a career, it’s a job that you could lose at any time. Always have a plan B.
Realistically, who will lose their job over this? You’re acting like there will be no driver jobs in the near future. You can still retire as a truck driver if you choose. This technology is decades away and much much further to totally replace drivers. Tell your grandchildren that truck driving is a dying career so they can pick a better one. They are anticipating mid 2020’s before they start releasing pilot mode in trucks and that cannot replace a driver.
If you were told that your house would be underwater in 50 years, when that time came would you be standing on your roof wondering what you’ll do now? You have a very long time to prepare for this.
Salty Dog says
Truth is not everyone is blessed with a 200 iq .
I dont see why the big push to automate trucks, this new junk is hard enough to keep working on a day to day basis.
Maybe they should start with the railroads.
Jim says
Actually, they have. Most modern locomotives are computer controlled. The Engineer climbs into the cab and enters a few sets of numbers into the computer, then he’s mainly along for the ride. Airplanes have had this for years as well. The pilots are just there to make sure the computer does its thing. It won’t be long, or so I am told, that the Engineers and Pilots will be eliminated as the companies trust the computers more. Let’s face it. We can’t compete with a machine that never calls in sick, never takes breaks, doesn’t give the company any grief, and doesn’t need to be paid. The companies that go the automated route will save MILLIONS per year and those who do not will not be able to compete. This is simply the companies thinking of the bottom line. Of course, the savings that are incurred (no salaries, no health insurance, etc.) will NOT be passed along to the consumer. Just making rich folks richer.
RheumTrucker says
Excellent post Joe!
Paul says
Autonomous cars/trucks/anything will only ever work safely when all humans have been removed from the equation.
Think about that.
Automation, sure. Elimination…bite me.
Domo says
Yes, that’s the goal. Sux huh. The only subject kids a be studying in school is science and technology soon.
Christopher Medlock says
Population control planning in the works. I hope they are EMP proof.
milo oslater says
Disgusting!!!
Stefan says
Long live the robot
Billy Boy says
Can anybody say “Christine”?
Harjit Singh says
trucker/ trucking industry needs to come together to stop this company before they ruin the whole industry. Like they ruined the taxi industry. They’ll start with really good rates to get owner operators on board. Once they have enough hold they’ll drop priced to pennies.
Randy says
My thoughts exactly.
Shawn says
All this guy wants to do is put people out of work and benefit himself as usual. Uber is just another greedy company
William says
Never,ever going to happen in this century. Autonomous vehicles are a dream of the far future. They say it will eliminate human error? Then who is designing these systems? Humans, right! Never, ever going to happen.
Don says
Don’t forget maintenance. They can’t find enough technicians to maintain the current crop of trucks. Imagine the nightmares with Robot trucks. Then there is the usual cutting corners to save money. How many lives will that cost?
Jeremy says
Anyone who has ever operated large commercial vehicles realizes the countless scenarios where this tech cannot possibly work.
It’s cool to pursue autonomous tech but it’s far from capable of completely replacing the human element any time soon.
David says
Doesn’t have to take 30 min or 10 hour break doesn’t have to do a 34 hour reset. Eliminate the sleeper cab and 95% of the rest of the interior. Don’t need to replace the windshield because there won’t be one. Doesn’t get sick drunk or stoned before driving. Doesn’t text and drive. Will weight less and be more aerodynamic. Don’t have to pay it .xx a mile.
The savings just stack up too high even if an automated truck costs 100k more than a conventional one they will get that money back in the first year. Will they kill people probably. Will some truck driver kill someone this month mist definitely.
Lawrence Draper says
Can it back up to a dock?
Matt says
My pickup can back a trailer by its self, dont see why the tech cant make its way up to a big truck….
Fred G Hoagland says
Many Truck Drivers still can’t back to a dock…In fact that’s usually how we (Truckers) get entertained at loading docks.
Nick says
This is scary. An 80,000 lb. vehicle barreling down the road with no driver? Those sensors better have backups and backups for the backups, lol.
Georgejansen says
Planes needs pilots. Trains needs engineers. Both of which can operate by themselves. So Trucks will always need drivers.
Troy says
It’s about time. NOW owner ops wont be getting banged by the middle man. UBER will have a load board and freight will be scene by the driver with prices straight from the customer.
Randy says
Screwber Uber will be screwing truckers just like they’re screwing the taxi drivers. I know. I’ve driven for Screwber. Travis Kalanik is one evil SOB.
A d Enstoss says
Don’t worry this is realistically only science fiction.They already had one drive under a truck with a fatality.If you think for 5 minutes you’ll find this today or tomorrow is totally impossible on any scale that is not fully controlled and routed.Remember what happened to Branson’s pilots on the jet ship times a million in difficulty.
Lisa says
This technology isn’t decades away. It’s here now. The sensors are already being placed in signs & traffic lights to communicate with cars & trucks. Cars & trucks are already fully capable. It will only take 5 to 10 years for real transitioning to begin, if that. The info is out there for anyone paying attention. You are responsible for your own livelihood. Save, invest, & learn new skills. This industry is going to change quicker than you can imagine. It’s up to you to be prepared & have backup plans. Nobody owes you this job, or the next. If you aren’t working hard & saving like crazy now you’ll have no one to blame but yourself when the time comes.
Jim says
Speaking as a veteran of several layoffs, I couldn’t agree more. This industry is all but finished anyhow, what with companies hiring wheel turners that will work for ridiculously low wages. I’m sorry to say this, but I think the Golden Age of Trucking ended somewhere in the late 1970s. This job (like many other jobs) hasn’t been worth crap since then. The decline started with deregulation somewhere around the late 70s and really started declining when we got NAFTA (or, as I call it, SHAFT-A). Now we have hundreds of low-wage, unqualified wheel turners causing major accidents. Not a day goes by that I don’t see some kind of truck wreck, overturned truck, truck stuck in the median because the boob behind the wheel tried to make a U-turn (rolls eyes). Automation is just the next logical step. Like Lisa says, you better start saving some rocking chair money and invest in some new skills.
Barney says
One word- Apathy!
What’s your job?
We should replace it immediately too with tenchnology.
river says
Uber might buy all cemeteries for business
tammy says
I think there should be an app for a virtual family, that way you don’t have to go through the real thing. Stop having babies or maybe we should have robot babies. Lol!!
Bill Remington says
The railroads already have similar technology. They call it a (Chest Pack), one man operates a locomotive on the ground for up to a mile away; switching out freight cars in a rail yard or in main line service switching cars at various customers. So, you went from a 7 man crew to a two man crew, and now to a one man crew. Soon it will be 0 crew members on any train in the US in the future.
Now comes the trucking industry. Who knows, maybe it will be the airlines and next big ships.
Got to love it. That’s all I can say.
Wild says
Honestly, I hope the carriers read this message. DO NOT DO ANY BUSINESS WITH UBER. These morons behind the scenes dispatching even their own taxi cab drivers rely too heavily upon their algorithm positioning systems. That they want you to turn on a dime, when you could be either in the wrong lane, or heading in the wrong direction to begin with. This system of theirs makes even normal driving extremely dangerous. Now, if they get autonomous trucks. Look out trucking companies, because you will be getting your asses sued more often for wrongful death lawsuits. All because you were trying to save a buck. I encourage you to sign up for just one week and be a Uber taxi cab driver for them, and be prepared to have the living crap scared out of you! That’s just in a passenger car! Now, imagine a robotic truck being just as stupid at their whim. Stick with real, live people and this is coming from a former Uber X Driver, who decided that my life is more valuable than the money they waved. They also have the worst customer service and support. You don’t get a live person, but you will get spammed by a slew of form letter responses. If you want a trucking uber with real live people then get Blue Bloodhound to do the work for you.
RheumTrucker says
“NECESSITY is the MOTHER of INVENTION”
Many of us are worried about what happens to our livelihood when new invention/technology pushes us out; and so we should be.
The hard truth however, is that this has been going on since the dawn of civilization.
Take a quick look at the history of the fulling mill for example- before this appeared in around 1200 AD the art of fulling wool took an apprenticeship of 6 years to learn. To obtain 1kg of low quality wool it took 6.6 12 hour workdays. High quality wool took 71 to 81 workdays! If you were a journeyman fuller you were a valuable citizen and could support your family. Then along came this new machine that used water to not only do your job, but do it better & faster.
With ever changing industrial innovation that spans human history, will continue through present day and far beyond our lifetimes, we have two choices- embrace it, use it, and move forward; or give up and be left in the dust.
Jim O'Brien says
I like Joe’s remark, that no one promised you a living in any field. It’s up to you. Nobody is “out to get you,” or “eliminate the family,” none of that is happening. The “hard truth however, is that this has been going on since the dawn of civilization.” Rheum has it right. I think it ‘s funny how so many people use technology all the time, technology that put a lot of people out of work, but complain, whine, and moan when it touches their own lives. Technology like, well, electricity. Like computers. Like air travel, mobile devices, even the wheel put people out of work. Complaining and living in fear isn’t a reasonable response, because technology will provide a better way to do things. As for self-driving vehicles? Anyone who is reading this is welcome to wait for an enormous, national network to be invented, designed, and built out. It’s going to take a while, people. We’re safe for a while, so don’t worry, be happy.
Desmond says
The guy who came up with uber is just another pansy who has never done a hard days work in his life and has never had to struggle to put food on the table and never wondered how he was gonna pay his utility bills phone bill or cable bill. But we are all JAFO and we are FUBAR.
William Scott Womack says
How do I volunteer to be used as a owner operator by this Otto. UBER.TECHNOLOGY to grow America into the future? A paid position. Email me
zavetta Taylor says
As if the stagnant wages aren’t enough of a sign…y’all better wake up.
ROBERT DELNERO says
I see that some of the people commenting here get it. It’s because of human error. There is so many accidents, deaths, and injuries from this dangerous profession. There is a tremendous amount of resources being wasted due to damages. People have lost respect for the driver and the goods they carry. People put so much money, time and energy into manufacturing that gets lost due to the so many accidents and crashes. If you want to continue with life without automation… you better make some changes in the human side of things. Elimination of selfishness and greed would be a wonderful place to start before the robots take over. Robots do only what they are programmed to do. People do not always do what they are supposed to do to accomplish the job. Robots are not lazy like humans and do not call in sick or steal from each other. The elites of the world are tired of ones who think they are entitled to live without working. This technology will probably be seen in the USA and other industralized nations in the mid 2020s. Too many people and too many damaged goods. Only human error is to blame. Stop driving around like morons do and maybe theres a good chance we will still have driving jobs by 2050!
will says
Like self flying planes, the tech is too new and will make lawyers wealthy most of this is tech pandering . If it’s that good why not are all the trains automated…..
Asleep@theWheel says
Before you can have autonomous vehicles operating on the road, you have to figure out how to teach the public how to stay out of the way of these vehicles? I.e., those drivers who have yet to figure out how to properly merge onto the freeway; those who typically give you the one finger salute, because you failed to yield the right of way while they were trying to merge onto the freeway! Oh, and imagine their surprise when there is no driver to receive the salute!
Louise says
So no one gets paid to drive no one has money to by any thing in stores that the trucks bring. leading to less freight. Less wealth for trucking company. We all know it’s the other guy at fault and not every owner will be able to aFord a no driver car. And if it’s out lawed how to they get to work. They loose their jobs and less sales. Haven’t they learned about replacing people with machines.
James says
Once this driverless cars start rolling .The first death linked to driverless cars. They cant blame it on the driver . So Uber will be out of business
Infosaur says
“Can’t wait for autonomous trucks.” – freight hijackers.
Heh heh heh
Beverly Peffer says
I am sorry but any idiot that has been trucking knows that NO WAY will this work. Construction and decisions that have to be made that are human qualities. Not robots..this saves lives keeping humans at the wheel. This country is too messed up to use this technology. Can a computer jump start a reefer.
Jamie Thompson says
Can’t take our loads if they always have flat tires. Never seen a self driving truck change all 18 of its tires. Just saying…..