Uber launched commercial unmanned truck service

The company Uber announced the launch of a commercial service for the transport of goods by unmanned trucks. At the initial stage of the project, trucks will run on the roads of Arizona, USA. The state authorities are very supportive of Robobil in all forms, including unmanned trucks. In fairness it should be noted that the machines will not ride around the state without people in the cabin. No, according to the law, a person must still be in the driver’s seat so that if something goes wrong, take control of the situation.

The commercial freight service was launched by Uber last year , but so far people have driven the wagons, but autonomy was not discussed. By registering in a specialized application, the user of the “loading and unloading” service will be able to order a heavy truck in a couple of clicks - about the same as it happens when searching for a driver.

The search task is performed by the Uber Freight service, as the company called its logistics division. Interestingly, the chain itself is not organized as usual. The standard way to transport goods is to place an object or objects in a van that carries cargo from point A to point B. At the same time, the same driver drives the car. In the case of the Uber Freight, the situation is somewhat different: a person begins the journey and ends it, parking in the right slot. But the intermediate stage, that is, the carriage itself, is undertaken by the autonomous system. The truck operator (the driver of the person who is responsible for the work of the robofurs can not be called) will eventually be less tired. The road will have to be monitored, but it still takes much less effort than usual.
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Probably, such a system of work will attract additional specialists, ex-truckers who want a quieter life. “The truck drivers of the service will perform the usual tasks for specialists of this kind, but only when the situation requires it. The tasks will be as follows - entering the station, navigating the platform loaded with other cars, and performing complex maneuvers, ”said one of the managers of the new service.


The video above shows the process of cargo delivery, which consists of three stages. Initially, the man, the driver of the truck, sits in the already loaded goods wagon, quite normal. On this truck, the cargo is delivered to the station autonomous systems. At the station, the trailer is removed from a regular truck and attached to an autonomous Uber Freight service vehicle. The latter has its own driver / operator, who ensures that everything goes well and smoothly, almost without participating in the driving process.

According to experts from Uber, such a process is good for those who need to carry cargo, and for drivers - because they move to much shorter distances, which means they can spend more time at home with their families. The problem of the long absence of truckers is serious enough. Sometimes it leads to the collapse of families or just psychological discomfort in the family. Many try to close their eyes to this, but the problem really exists. And robots cars are a great way to solve a problem by removing some tasks from truckers.

So far, autonomous trucks will make way no more than 450 kilometers. The project is a test one, so Amazon is afraid to let their trucks go outside of Arizona for a long time.

At the end of the journey, a reverse exchange takes place between the autonomous truck operator and the driver of a conventional car. The cargo is hooked to the latter, and it is sent to the end point of its journey. The driver parks the car and starts to unload the car.

According to representatives of Uber, the company does not seek to reduce the number of jobs in companies that are engaged in cargo transportation. Yes, at long distances the cars will gradually replace people. But on the short ones, the drivers will need more than before, since the load will have to be transferred back and forth twice for the entire route of the vehicle. Of course, the tasks of operators are somewhat different from the tasks of ordinary drivers, but still, jobs do not go anywhere.


Trucks, by the way, are not only involved in Uber. Autonomous large cars designed to perform logistic tasks are produced by other companies, including Mercedes. Back in 2014, she presented to the world autonomous trucks of her own design, called the Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025. Robo-mobile tests have already been carried out, and he showed himself very well. A feature of the truck is the presence of the steering wheel - the laws so far oblige a person to be in the driver's seat, so that, as mentioned above, if something goes wrong, quickly take matters into your own hands.

So far, this truck model exists in a single copy, there is no car for sale. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the possible price of the truck. According to experts, the addition of an automatic control system to a passenger car increases the price of such a car by about 10 thousand US dollars. In the case of a truck, one must think that this amount needs to be increased several times.