There is obviously a lot written these days about the future of transportation and the technology that will reshape human mobility.  Much of the coverage in the popular press relates to two areas: 1) how the interaction between cars and people will change, with the use of technology requiring less and less human input, and 2) the corporate bets that are being made by companies that are creating shared mobility services – where a confluence of factors suggest that in the future, people may not actually own a vehicle, but rather access a vehicle through a shared service arrangement.

The other key transportation and technology dynamic that is unfolding in front of our eyes is actually quite fundamental to the national and global economy.  Increased automation of cargo logistics is creating new efficiencies at the seaport, rail yard, airport and over the road.  It is a fascinating time right now in global logistics, there is a convergence of important occurring now technological advancements that are going to restructure the movement of goods from original point, to distribution/logistics hub, to end customer.

Streamlining of hand-offs, systemized and automated distribution facilities, increased green efficiencies have begun to make significant contributions toward cost reduction and increased operational efficiencies and accuracy.   Advancement toward increased degrees of non-facility specific cargo movement automation, both short-haul and long-haul will literally create a new foundation for the logistics space.  This is moving fairly quickly toward reality with new and established players investing in cargo movement truck autonomy trials and some interesting progress is being made.  Uber’s trial in Arizona is a visible example of the technology being put to real-world test environments – please see this article in Digital Trends (Trevor Mogg) and watch the demonstration video embedded in the article.

Watch the video:  Uber’s self-driving trucks are now moving freight across Arizona

We’ve long known that Uber is working on developing a self-driving truck. What we didn’t know is that it’s already operating a commercial service using the vehicle and has been for the past few months.

The company better known for transporting passengers than freight revealed on Tuesday that it’s now operating a service on highways in Arizona, though it declined to offer any details on how many trucks it’s using and the products it’s transporting.

Uber’s autonomous truck development — the focus of its Advanced Technology Group that’s also working on a driverless car — comes out of the company’s acquisition of the self-driving truck startup Otto in 2016.

At the current time, Uber’s autonomous truck has a trained Uber personnel behind the wheel to monitor the ride, but the long-term goal is to do away with the driver for the long-distance drives. According to Uber, the short, human-driven journeys offer two benefits — continued employment for truckers, and the opportunity to spend more time at home than living on the road. For businesses, it would mean increased efficiency as goods would be transported around the clock, with no concerns over safety issues regarding drowsy or distracted drivers.

“Uber envisions a future where self-driving trucks and truck drivers work together to move freight around the country,” the company said. “Self-driving trucks will manage long-haul driving on interstate highways, but having two hands on the wheel will still be the best way to get a load to its final destination.”

It described the transfer hubs as “an essential part of our vision for the future. We see them placed strategically across the country near cities and towns, bridging the gap between local and long-haul trucking.”

Moving forward

Uber’s revelation that it’s now running a commercial service demonstrates its confidence in the platform that it’s been operating over the last few months. It’s likely that the recent out-of-court settlement with Waymo also cleared the way for the news release. The two companies had been locked in a bitter battle after Waymo, the autonomous-vehicle unit of Google parent Alphabet, accused Uber of stealing technology secrets via a former Google employee who went on to launch Otto. Uber always denied any wrongdoing, and in February struck a deal with Waymo to finally put the matter to bed.

Looking ahead, Uber will continue to enhance it truck-based technology, but isn’t thought to be interested in owning its own fleet of autonomous trucks. Rather, it envisages expanding its Uber Freight platform that links shippers with drivers, while at the same time striking partnerships with shippers that pay to incorporate its technology. Taking large autonomous trucks beyond the highway and into busy urban environments also looks to be a long way off, for Uber at least, though regulators too would also have to be satisfied over safety if such a plan is ever presented.

The competition in the space is fierce, with other outfits such as Waymo and Tesla building their own trucks with autonomous capabilities. Another company, Embark, is also operating a service using self-driving trucks, transporting refrigerators hundreds of miles between Texas and California, with a human engineer behind the wheel to keep an eye on the ride. The company also recently completed a coast-to-coast run between California and Florida.