Autonomous

About Autonomous News...

Autonomous technologies now drive significant change in trucking and freight transportation. Transport Topics autonomous coverage provides a comprehensive look at that change. It provides the latest details on deployment concepts such as advanced driver-assist systems, transfer hubs, teleoperations, platooning and off-road automation and latest analysis of the companies who are manufacturing, adopting and investing in these technologies. Readers can follow the impact such deployment has on everything from policy and infrastructure initiatives to highway congestion, fuel consumption, fleet management, driver management and business investment.

Business, Technology, Autonomous

Waymo Inches Forward as Self-Driving Frontrunner With 1,000 Riders

The first major self-driving taxi service needed six months to reach 1,000 customers, another sign that growth may be slow as companies try to build businesses around autonomous vehicles.

Ira Boudway | Bloomberg News
May 9, 2019
Business, Technology, Autonomous

GM Self-Driving Unit’s Valuation Swells to $19 Billion

General Motors Co.’s self-driving unit drew $1.15 billion in fresh investment, with T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. joining existing backers, including Honda Motor Co. and SoftBank Vision Fund.

May 7, 2019
Business, Technology, Autonomous

Autonomous Tech Could Make Tesla $500 Billion Company, CEO Elon Musk Says

Elon Musk described autonomous-driving technology as “transformative” to Tesla Inc. in a call aimed at ginning up interest in the electric-car maker’s debt and stock offering of about $2 billion, according to two people who dialed in.

Dana Hull | Bloomberg News
May 3, 2019
Business, Technology, Logistics, Autonomous, Top 100

FedEx, UPS Strive to Automate Loading and Unloading Trucks

As FedEx Corp. and UPS Inc. beef up automation to keep pace with surging e-commerce and a potential threat from Amazon.com, they’ve been stumped at a crucial stage: loading and unloading trucks.

Thomas Black | Bloomberg News
May 3, 2019
Business, Technology, Equipment, Autonomous

Automated and Electric Vehicles

The Technology & Maintenance Council is evolving to contend with the necessary maintenance and specification issues that are arising as a result of two advanced technologies that are fast becoming part of today’s trucking scene.

Jack Legler | Technical Director, Technology & Maintenance Council
April 26, 2019
Business, Technology, Safety, Autonomous

CEO Elon Musk Makes Self-Driving Technology Tesla’s Costly New Calling

Tesla Inc.’s calling used to be bringing affordable electric cars to the masses. Elon Musk is now ripping up the script, vowing to pair self-driving technology with a sharing service that will make it crazy for consumers to buy other cars.

Dana Hull | Bloomberg News
April 23, 2019
Business, Technology, Logistics, Autonomous, Top 100

UPS Sees Payoff From $20 Billion Tech Bet, but Investors Remain Wary

UPS Inc. is counting on algorithms you can’t see to prove that investors were wrong to doubt its three-year, $20 billion technological makeover. It’s all part of CEO David Abney’s bet on squeezing out costs and becoming more nimble as UPS adjusts to surging e-commerce deliveries.

Thomas Black | Bloomberg News
April 23, 2019
Business, Technology, Autonomous

Alphabet’s Waymo to Revive Detroit Plant With Self-Driving Cars

Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo has picked an idled American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. facility in Detroit as the site where it will equip vehicles made by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Jaguar Land Rover Automotive with self-driving technology.

April 23, 2019
Government, Business, Technology, Logistics, Autonomous

Alphabet’s Drone Delivery Business Cleared for Takeoff by FAA

An offshoot of Alphabet Inc.’s Google has become the first drone operator to receive government approval as an airline, an important step that gives it the legal authority to begin dropping products to actual customers.

Alan Levin | Bloomberg News
April 23, 2019
Business, Technology, Autonomous

Tesla Gears Up for Driverless Cars in 2020 Amid Skepticism

SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla CEO Elon Musk appears poised to transform the company’s electric cars into driverless vehicles in a risky bid to realize a bold vision that he has been floating for years.

April 22, 2019