Self-driving cars started moving passengers on public roads quite some time ago and now self-driving trucks are paving their own way, so to speak. Uber has expanded the scope of its self-driving efforts to trucks as well and now it’s self-driving trucks have actually started to move cargo. Uber formally announced that its self-driving trucks have been delivering cargo in Arizona for a couple of months now.
The company explains that it has two main transfer hubs in Topock and Sanders. That’s really the extent of information that it has revealed about this so far. For some reason, it hasn’t really shared any further details about its self-driving trucks.
That’s why it’s not known how many self-driving trucks Uber has on the road, how many miles they have driven, what cargo they’re shipping, and how often do human safety drivers have to disengage the system to take control.
The system relies on regular semi truck drivers as well as they pick up the cargo from a shipper and then deliver it to Uber’s transfer hubs. It’s at one of the hubs that the trailer is hooked to a self-driving truck and then transported over the longest leg of the trip. The self-driving truck stops at the other transfer hub where the cargo is picked up by another conventional truck and sent on its way. The video posted above shows this system works.
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