Waymo's Driver-Less Cars Will Also Deliver Parts To Repair Shops (ibtimes.com) 12
"Waymo said that its autonomous vehicles will be used to help shuttle car parts between several AutoNation locations and other repair shops in the Phoenix, Arizona area," reports the International Business Times:
While the expanded partnership may not seem like a big deal at first blush, it's important for investors to know that the move is yet another step for Waymo toward the self-driving business-to-business delivery market. While Waymo has received a lot of attention for the company's robotaxis (which currently run in a limited capacity in the Phoenix area), the company has always been clear that the same technology that drives its people-moving vans can be used for delivery of goods as well.
Why focus on self-driving vans for package deliveries and autonomous freight trucks? Because the market for B2B deliveries could eventually be as high as $1 trillion, according to Bloomberg. Autonomous vehicle deliveries are being seen as the answer to the growing truck driver shortage in America. Sixty-five percent of the consumable goods in the U.S. are moved via trucks, and the American Trucking Association says that the shortage of long-haul drivers has reached 60,000... With e-commerce still growing quickly, companies of all sizes are trying to find better ways to deliver their merchandise to third-party businesses and customers. And that's what makes Waymo's expanded AutoNation partnership so important.
If the company can prove that its autonomous driving vehicles can quickly and reliably perform deliveries over and over again for AutoNation, then other retailers may soon look to the company for their delivery needs.
Why focus on self-driving vans for package deliveries and autonomous freight trucks? Because the market for B2B deliveries could eventually be as high as $1 trillion, according to Bloomberg. Autonomous vehicle deliveries are being seen as the answer to the growing truck driver shortage in America. Sixty-five percent of the consumable goods in the U.S. are moved via trucks, and the American Trucking Association says that the shortage of long-haul drivers has reached 60,000... With e-commerce still growing quickly, companies of all sizes are trying to find better ways to deliver their merchandise to third-party businesses and customers. And that's what makes Waymo's expanded AutoNation partnership so important.
If the company can prove that its autonomous driving vehicles can quickly and reliably perform deliveries over and over again for AutoNation, then other retailers may soon look to the company for their delivery needs.
longhaul is more interesting (Score:2)
If you can automate yard to yard long haul deliveries, then you can use your humans for last mile.
Re: (Score:2)
If you can automate yard to yard long haul deliveries, then you can use your humans for last mile.
Long haul is already largely automated using trains.
It is the last mile that is labor-intensive, especially for same-day deliveries.
Also, if there are only parts in the trunk, Waymo doesn't have to worry about the Trolley Problem [wikipedia.org].
Way less interesting (Score:2)
If you can automate yard to yard long haul deliveries, then you can use your humans for last mile.
Longhaul is almost a solved problem as far as automation is concerned, and certainly not complex.
Automating inter-city deliveries is WAY more interesting, because it's way more complex - and also way more useful. It replaces couriers, taxis, inter-city shipping drivers, and probably also buses (because if you don't have to pay for a driver, something like Uber gets way cheaper). Why would you take a bus that
Re: (Score:2)
It's the last-mile humans that are the most expensive part for business models like UPS. Home package delivery still requires that driver though, since someone has to take it from the truck to your door. If Waymo can get the driver part taken care of then the wheeled delivery robots like Amazon's Scout can do the rest. Drive the truck to a neighborhood, release a fleet of Scouts, and then come back and pick them up later. Amazon is already building out their own delivery services since they got fed up w
Well, this isn't going to end well (Score:2)
Most of these jobs are phony contracting gigs where you bring your own car and such. They're the gig economy but worse (try to picture that).
It's gonna be "interesting" when you've got a raft of people with absolutely nothing left to lose and a history of crime.
Re: (Score:3)
If you're an ex-con this is one of the last jobs you can get.
The root problem is that we have way too many ex-cons. America's incarceration rate is four times that of any other developed country. Yet we have the highest recidivism rate and spend the least per-prisoner on rehabilitation and training. Our prisons are crime factories.
I kind of wonder ... (Score:2)
... if waymo's plan (And they clearly have a plan) might not be to sample various markets to learn enough to assemble a formidable patent and marketable technology portfolio. You want to build an automated lumber, or grocery, or people, or anything else delivery business. You can do it. Maybe you'll succeed. And maybe you won't. Either way, you'll be sending money to Waymo.
Shotage of drivers or shortage of pay? (Score:1)
"American Trucking Association says that the shortage of long-haul drivers has reached 60,000..."
I really doubt that. It's certainly just a shortage of willingness to pay drivers sufficient money for the services they offer.
Re: (Score:2)
I really doubt that. It's certainly just a shortage of willingness to pay drivers sufficient money for the services they offer.
Exactly.
If the trucking firms were will to offer $50/hour and honor all
statutory holidays, drivers would be beating down the door.
Repair Shops?? dealer only service will be coded (Score:2)
Repair Shops?? dealer only service will be coded into self driver cars and the auto zones will replaced with the dealer only network.
Let me guess... (Score:2)
...they will all have "safety drivers" in them.
Actually, this is smart (Score:2)
Waymo going store to store, it will teach the AI a lot about city driving. And cities like Phoenix is ideal since it has no real adverse weather save heat.