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State of Logistics 2016: Pursue mutual benefit Self-driving truck makes its first (beer) run Akro-Mils celebrates 70th anniversary Loftware partners with PTC for new medical device labeling solution USC partners with U.S. Department of Commerce on the digital supply chain More News While widespread usage of self-driving autonomous trucks is not upon us yet, it appears that things are now officially in the very early innings. And the reason is….beer. OK, well, that is stretching it but maybe I have your attention now, grin. And the main party responsible for this development is the ubiquitous ride-sharing service Uber. Uber’s recent acquisition of self-driving truck startup company Otto last August turned a lot of heads in the trucking and logistics sectors, and this week it officially began to do the same over the road, hauling more than 50,000 cans, 51,744 to be exact, of Budweiser in Colorado from Fort Collins, through downtown Denver, to Colorado Springs, to a 120-mile haul, which Otto said represents the completion of the world’s first shipment by a self-driving truck. “By using cameras, radar, and lidar sensors mounted on the vehicle to ‘see’ the road, Otto’s system controlled the acceleration, braking, and steering of the truck to carry the beer exit-to-exit without any human intervention, stated a company blog post. “In fact, our professional driver was out of the driver’s seat for the entire 120-mile journey down I-25, monitoring the self-driving system from the sleeper berth in the back.” And the company added that this shipment marks the next step towards its vision for a safe and productive future across U.S. highways, explaining that with an Otto-equipped vehicle, truck drivers will have the opportunity to rest during long stretches of highway while the truck continues to drive and make money for them. While there are […]