Uber Freight
A new report released by Uber Freight helps uncover the future of autonomous trucking.
The report provided a road map for how autonomous trucks will impact truck driver jobs, operating costs and the movement of goods overall.
From Uber Freight:
- The hub-to-hub model represents a practical starting point for the accelerated deployment of autonomous trucks, where human drivers handle the trip ends, which involve complex urban streets, and autonomous trucks will service the middle on highways. The hub-to-hub model also addresses the market of 25 billion miles of long-distance dry van freight on the interstate system. Feasibility improves with longer hauls, where the fraction of cost associated with the first and last miles is smaller.
- By analyzing historical carrier pricing data, this model is feasible to all stakeholders on 80% of lanes if AV carriers can achieve a middle-mile cost of $1 per mile, and on 40% of lanes with a middle-mile cost of $2 per mile.
- Using a nationwide model of interstate freight movements, the survey estimated that 180,000 drivers will be needed to cover 18 billion miles of dry van freight by 2050.
- Autonomous trucks on the long-haul middle mile would enable humans to shift to local hauls, boosting demand for skilled drivers in the local sector.
- Deployment will expand incrementally along strategic corridors in the United States, starting with states where weather and regulations are favorable.
