Uber’s Truck Won’t Stop

It’s hard to keep up with Uber these days, and diversification seems to be its motto. Uber’s acquisition of the self-driving lorry startup Otto this past summer for $680 million should begin to bear fruit in 2017, according to TechCrunch. Otto Cofounder Lior Ron told Reuters that Otto will enter the long-haul trucking business next year.

Otto’s technology can retrofit its existing trucks to be autonomous and to navigate U.S. highways, but human drivers and an engineer are still required to ensure safe entry and exit of highways. Experts think that self-driving trucks will allow drivers to rest and to speed up delivery times.

Otto’s technology is in the development stage, but Uber’s resources will accelerate the process. The Otto team will first look at warehouses and ways to optimize efficiency and automate the driving. According to Ron: “In Uber, you press a button, and an Uber shows up after three minutes. In freight … the golden standard is that it takes (the broker) five hours of phone calls to find your truck. That’s how efficient the industry is today.”

Experts that consulted with Reuters seemed a little skeptical of Uber’s freight prospects, but Ron is talking to potential partners that could spur on an autonomous trucking initiative. Otto is already planning to double its fleet of six trucks and is pitching its services to shippers, truck companies and drivers.

Fully autonomous trucks are estimated by industry experts to be two decades away, but Otto and Uber are also researching navigation, tracking and mapping technology as they continue to develop autonomous systems.

Uber cannot be accused of having a narrow outlook. With fingers in many pies, it is constantly diversifying. Another Uber spinoff, UberEATS, is to launch new services in 22 countries and to continue to grow globally. Ever ambitious, Uber also plans to compete with the truck fleet and shipping brokers.