Uber - coming to a dock near you...

Whether or not luck plays any role in life is a matter of debate.

Randomness DOES play a role in life. And this includes good AND bad fortune.

I also mentioned the Uber effect which no one - not even you - can predict.

 

And let's say nearly every dry van o/o takes your advice and floods the market pulling reefer, skateboards, tankers? The market will then respond accordingly. Dry van rates will rise. This will bring back the dry van drivers.

 

Interesting observations.

Who is to say once Uber gets comfortable on the dry van side, they won't expand to reefers, tankers, or skateboards. I wouldn't be surprised if they have long-term plans to dethrone Schneider.

Although the skateboards will require a driver to monitor the load in transit.

Like I said before, it's impossible to predict all the ramifications of the Uber/Otto effect. Some may disagree with me but that won't stop how this will evolve.

 

Very true, and will never happen. For the same reason guys take the 11 dollar an hour job running a fork lift job at the Wal-Mart dc over the 16 an hour job at the local sanitation company doing residential curbside pickup. It involves a minimal amount of physical effort.

Any job that involves just a little bit of physical activity automatically eliminates 80% of our peer group. When you zoom in on owner operators in trucking by getting away from van you also eliminate most of the new start up show string budget living by the skin of their teeth guys. You've seen the type. They got just enough money to buy a 6500 dollar 25 yr old pile of garbage fld and a 2500 buck dry van and are have to take a fuel advance on their very first load. They simply don't have the additional money to buy securement gear or a flat(or even a working reefer)

 

spyder, well said sir.

 

Did Uber actually follow through or is that photoshop? Guess it's the real deal; times are changing.

 

Uber is in a #### ton of trouble and under every watchful eye .....they are trying to put their hands in every cookie jar possible......the ceo is a moron but


I use them lol cheap way to get to the b00by bars!

 

There's cheap freight... then there's treating your freight like a drunk that needs a ride home after the bars close. I dunno if companies are gonna be making the shift to the latter, even if they are cheap.

 

This sort of disruptive innovation (Autonomous vehicles) is here to stay. Other industries have gone through similar things and all the naysayers from those industries had zero effect in stopping the inevitable.
The first applications will be in straightforward no touch freight on major freight lanes. The very place where minimal driver effort or input is required. Now those in specialized may think they are safe and I guess they have a point that a machine replacing then is someway off . The reality is that all those drivers being displaced on the easy stuff will now be gunning for specialized as it will be the only option they have. The top heavy supply vs demand will drive those wages down as well. Its just a matter of time , that's all.

 

I'll worry about autonomous trucks after autonomous small vehicles become pooular.
We were a good thirty years, maybe more before, before robot trucks are in large enough numbers to have a real effect on the market.