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Uber and Waymo are working together on long-haul autonomous trucking
They'll bring together Waymo's self-driving trucks and Uber Freight's on-demand haulage network.
Waymo and Daimler team up to develop self-driving trucks
Waymo and Daimler are partnering to develop self-driving trucks destined for the US.
Tesla delays Semi electric truck to 2021
Tesla has once again pushed back the Semi's release, with deliveries of the electric big rig now set for 2021.
Waymo expands its autonomous big rig tests to Texas and New Mexico
If you're in Texas or New Mexico, you might soon see Waymo's autonomous trucks on the road. Alphabet's self-driving division is expanding tests of its big rigs to those states.
Volvo Trucks’ autonomous vehicle is hauling goods in Sweden
Volvo Trucks' autonomous vehicle Vera is ready to hit the road. In collaboration with ferry and logistics company DFDS, Vera will begin transporting goods between a logistics center and a port terminal in Gothenburg, Sweden. The vehicle will haul shipping containers along a predefined route, including a stretch of public roads.
Walmart orders 30 more Tesla Semi trucks for its fleet
Walmart must be enthused with Tesla's vision for electric trucking, since it's quadrupling the size of its Semi order. The retailer is buying 30 additional Semis on top of the 10 it purchased back in November 2017, with the latest batch destined for Canada. The first 20 will bolster Walmart's core fleet in Missisauga, while the rest will support a future fulfillment center in Surrey, BC that will rely solely on EVs. It's part of a larger strategy that will see Walmart's Canadian branch rely exclusively on "alternative power" for its fleet by 2028.
Ford made a trucker hat that might save drivers' lives
Truck driving is an exhausting job that requires constant attention to the road. Falling asleep during long stretches is an occasional -- and sometimes lethal -- concern. That's why Ford helped develop the SafeCap, a hat that senses head movements associated with sleepiness and wakes the driver up with sound, light and vibration.
Senate will consider legislation for self-driving trucks
A bill on autonomous car legislation originally scheduled for a vote on September 6th just passed the US House of representatives and has been sent to the Senate for consideration. The bill does not include legislation regarding autonomous big-rig trucks, however, so the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is planning a hearing for September 13th to discuss potential implications for self-driving commercial vehicles.
Tesla's electric big rigs may focus on shorter routes
Tesla's been teasing its all-electric big rigs since April, but details have been scarce ahead of its planned grand unveiling in September. Heck, Reuters had to peer into DMV emails to discover that the company intends to link its trucks together in self-driving "platoons" for efficiency. The news outlet has once again unearthed new info on the cargo hauling vehicles: They'll reportedly have a range between 200 and 300 miles on a single charge.
Tesla considers 'platoons' of self-driving electric semis
In April, Elon Musk revealed a project Tesla had been working on since 2016: Electric semi-trucks. Turns out he had more in store for the big rigs. Much like his company's work building self-driving consumer cars, a report alleges that Musk wants his electric semis to travel autonomously in 'platoons' led by a single lead vehicle.
Uber shows off its upgraded fleet of autonomous trucks
Uber's interest in self-driving vehicles doesn't begin or end at taxis, which is why it's developing a platform for autonomous trucks, too. A year on from the company's, er, controversial purchase of Otto, and Uber has unveiled its second-generation big rig with a wholly upgraded set of sensors. Including an entirely new, 64-channel LIDAR array that, according to TechCrunch, was purchased off the shelf, from Velodyne.
Uber is ready to help truck drivers find cargo
Last year, Uber's interest in the shipping and trucking industry started to take shape with the (now controversial) purchase of Otto. A few months later, reports started swirling that Uber would be creating a platform to connect drivers with cargo in the same way it currently connects drivers with passengers. That service, simply called Uber Freight, officially launched this week.
Tesla plans to show off its electric semi truck this fall
According to Telsa CEO Elon Musk, the automotive arm of his company will unveil a semi truck this coming September. Musk dropped the news via a tweet. The company is currently gearing up to start full production of the Model 3, set to start being delivered at the end of 2017. But now it looks like Musk is getting ready to dive into into long-haul trucking.
Amazon plans to streamline shipping with an app for truckers
Uber may have already jumped into the logistics and trucking business with its purchase of Otto's self-driving truck platform, but as one of the biggest shippers in the country, Amazon can't afford to sit back on its heels. As Business Insider reports today, Jeff Bezos and company are building their own in-house "Uber for trucking" app meant to connect truck drivers with cargo and secure Amazon's place in a massive $800 billion industry.
Google spins out its self-driving car division
Google isn't wasting much time validating rumors that it's shaking up its self-driving car efforts. The internet giant is spinning out its self-driving project as a new company, Waymo, with current division head (and Hyundai veteran) John Krafcik as its CEO. It'll still have access to the resources of Google's parent company Alphabet, but it'll act more as a "venture backed startup," Krafcik said in a press conference. Appropriately, there's much more talk of turning autonomous vehicle tech into a practical business.
Uber's trucking plan will connect drivers with cargo
When Uber bought up Otto's self-driving truck platform, the initial reaction was to imagine a future fleet of autonomous trucks traveling coast to coast on America's interstates. According to a new report from Reuters, that reality is still years -- possibly decades -- away. In the short term, however, Uber plans to leverage the Otto purchase to build up its own freight business and make a name for itself as the go-to technology partner for the trucking industry.
Guest Post: Northrend truckers -- a tale of WoW OTR
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. After spending three years crammed into a call center with 600 reps sitting in quarter-cubes so small I could hear the other reps on all sides of me, I decided it was time to ditch the tech support world and go see America. Four weeks and $2,200 later, I had my Class A Commercial Driver's License, thanks to a truck driving school outside Springfield, Mo. Before venturing out, I wanted to purchase a decent laptop for gaming (we were attempting to do full clears of Zul'Aman when I decided on my career change). I ended up purchasing a HP Compaq NC8430, after catching it on special. It had the Intel Core 2 Duo T5600, ATI's Mobility Radeon X1600, and I upgraded the memory to 4GB of DDR2-667. After loading WoW and all my addons, I was happily running around Shattrath at 60 FPS! I also purchased Skyworth's 19", 12-volt LCD TV to use as a second monitor and to also watch television on in the few occasions I stopped overnight near a big city (Big Bang Theory is not available online). I didn't want to mess with a laptop and a GPS system, so I purchased Microsoft Streets 2006. MS Streets came with a plugin USB GPS that had about a six-foot cord on it along with a suction cup. Through blind luck while surfing the web, I also found Jotto Desk, a very nice laptop for semis that mounts to the base of the passenger seat and has an arm that extends over to the driver seat for easy access. While a bit of a pain to install, the effort was well worth it. The people who invented the Jotto Desks deserve an award or a free case of Bawls or something. Having successfully installed Jotto Desk and mounted my USB GPS to the front windshield, I was almost ready to hit the open road! All I had to figure out now was a way to get internet no matter where in the United States I happened to be.
DOT bars bus drivers and commercial truckers from texting while driving
It's coming. And soon. Of course, you know darn well we're referring to the day where no human in any nation can text and drive legally, and we're seeing the US Department of Transportation get us one step closer with its latest mandate. Effective immediately, bus drivers and interstate commercial truckers are disallowed from texting while operating a motor vehicle, and should they choose to send that one last SMS anyway, they'll be hit with "civil or criminal fines of up to $2,750." Needless to say, the Advocates for Highway Safety are pretty stoked about the notion, but they confess that this isn't taking things far enough. And for anyone who has been sideswiped by someone special telling someone more special "I LUVRZ U XOXO LOL" while doing 80 on the I-15, well, they'd probably concur.
Cobra adds Bluetooth to CB radio, truckers rejoice
Maybe it's just us, but the integration of Bluetooth into a CB radio is long, long overdue. Thankfully, Cobra is stepping up to the plate and introducing the 29 LTD BT, which will go down as its first ever CB radio to include integrated BT technology. Essentially, it allows users to accept and terminate calls with a simple button press on the radio itself, and also enables handsfree conversations -- undoubtedly littered with 10-4s and good buddies -- via the noise canceling microphone and five-watt speaker. Granted, the transmission was a touch fuzzy, but we heard it'll be available at travel centers and dealers this summer for $189.95. Copy?[Via Blast Magazine]
