Uber’s trucking plans appear more modest than disruptive
San Francisco — Uber Technologies’ drive to become a major player in the trucking business is off to a bumpy start, with analysts and industry executives questioning what exactly the company can bring to the sprawling $700bn industry. The San Francisco ride-services company had planned to disrupt freight hauling by offering a complete package of trucking technology including self-driving trucks and smartphone-based logistics services. But what has emerged so far, industry watchers say, is a modest effort to build a brokerage service connecting truckers looking for loads to shippers with cargo to haul. Uber’s self-driving truck effort is weighed down by a high-stakes lawsuit over allegedly stolen trade secrets linked to its $680m purchase of self-driving trucking start-up OttoMotto in 2016. Testing of the autonomous technology has slowed and several Otto engineers have been redeployed to Uber’s cargo business, according to state transportation agencies and Uber officials. Meanwhile, ...
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