Uber Self-Driving Truck Packed With Budweiser Makes First Delivery in Colorado
 

The ride-hailing giant teamed up with AB InBev to transport beer in an autonomous vehicle, which they say is the world?s first such commercial delivery.


A tractor trailer full of beer drove itself down Colorado's I-25 last week with nobody behind the wheel. Uber Technologies Inc. and Anheuser-Busch InBev NV teamed up on the delivery, which they said is the first time a self-driving truck had been used to make a commercial shipment.

With a police cruiser in tow, the 18-wheeler cruised more than 120 miles while a truck driver hung out back in the sleeper cab, the companies said. The delivery appears to be mostly a stunt?proof that Otto, the self-driving vehicle group that Uber acquired in July, could successfully put an autonomous truck into the wild.

"We wanted to show that the basic building blocks of the technology are here; we have the capability of doing that on a highway," said Lior Ron, the president and co-founder of Uber's Otto unit. "We are still in the development stages, iterating on the hardware and software."

AB InBev said it could save $50 million a year in the U.S. if the beverage giant could deploy autonomous trucks across its distribution network, even if drivers continued to ride along and supplement the technology. Those savings would come from reduced fuel costs and a more frequent delivery schedule.

Continued https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ry-in-colorado

oh, poor drivers

I'll drink to that :drinkup:drinkup

Cars I can see. 80,000 lb truck on auto pilot seems like disaster/lawsuits waiting to happen. Closed trailer not so bad but flatbed truck could never roll on auto pilot as freight can come loose. Countdown till someone hacks the computers and starts sending trucks into buildings, cars etc... :2 cents:

great! now if I could just send my car out on a beer run that would be awesome :thumbsup

Just order an Uber to your local liquor store and call the driver and tell them what to grab ya. :1orglaugh

against the law.. I tried that many years ago.. well with a cab company that knew me very well.

I tip the Pizza guy well, he's picked me up smokes before. :1orglaugh

So you can comprehend a computer driving a truck, far better than any person ever could, but not a computer dealing with loose freight?

Time for you to get a lawn to run kids off of, grandpa.

Uber be like "we will put as many people out of jobs as we can for profit and pretend it's progress"

We need UBI.

I hope they don't try this with a fuel tank next

Buddy can sit back and relax and have a beer

I consider myself to be fairly adventurous - However, the first time a cab turns up with no driver I will more than a little nervous...

There is no place for drivers in future.

AI is developing and evolving exponentially.

AI agents like Alexa, Siri, and M will create the first trillion-dollar company | VentureBeat | Business | by John Koetsier, TUNE

I think Doc Searls (HBR Press) thoughts in the "The Intention Economy" will become a counter punch to some of the ideas business has for market capture with AI.

As far as the beer truck: Most of its processes loading, transit and delivery unloading will become automated. I guess the new position is an on-board truck supervisor.

https://media0.giphy.com/media/tpjvqkIdWUtdC/200.gif#0 :upsidedow

I can understand making money off dumping the drivers but why less fuel?

I assume the computer is simply a better driver...

An active AI system would find the best route with the least congestion and distance between deliveries. This could be done in real time taking traffic conditions and road conditions (construction detours) into consideration.

Fuel savings might be realized in this manner.

Better accident free driving (with less human error) would result in less accident claim costs. There would be rare catastrophic claims maybe -- robotruck goes nuts...

In fact, casualty insurers are expecting fewer and less costly claims as AI use widens resulting in lower premium revenue.

Use of AI in medical surgery is becoming more common too ...

This makes sense to me. Also, if a computer is programmed with fuel economy as a priority, it would accelerate more slowly, decelerate more efficiently, etc. This plus everything you mentioned would add up quickly on a single truck. Imagine the savings on fleets of trucks.

Because the AI can drive with the economically optimal speed and it has no subjective feelings :2 cents:

I was thinking about fuel economy as well...

Driving more efficiently, picking better routes etc.

I can not wait i fucking hate taxis

you would think however I am able to get better mileage than the cruz control, much smoother, maybe less stops and quicker turn around? who unloads the truck, stocks the shelves and takes the next order?

this is a total dream and will never happen. my nav picks the stupidest most congested way every time, only me as a person knows the quick ways around traffic congestion.

I get better mileage with my foot than cruz control in the car. I have checked many times. I am smoother and more intuitive as a driver than the nav/cruz combined.

I think it's just hype to use in firing 100's of people.

Truck drivers have one of the most powerful unions in the United States and Canada. When they start losing their jobs then this shit will get real. There might be a whole lot of Jimmy Hoffa style disappearances going down on both sides of the fence.

Fuck with a man's livelihood and sooner or later someone is going to get wacked.

Drafting is one reason.

Driverless trucks will line up in fleets and ride each other's air pocket.