Uber Self-Driving Truck First Cargo Delivery: 50,000 Budweiser Cans

Uber delivered its first cargo shipment driven by a self-driven truck last week, the Verge reported Tuesday.

The 18-wheeler Volvo truck traveled 120 miles from an Anheuser-Busch facility in Loveland, Colorado to Colorado Springs, maintaining an average speed of 55 miles. The vehicle was equipped with 2 cameras, 2 front-facing radar sensors, a GPS sensor and light detection and ranging sensors to guide it along the way.

“There were people in Colorado Springs this weekend drinking a Budweiser that was delivered by a self-driving truck,” said James Sembrot, senior director of logistics strategy at Anheuser-Busch.

A human driver drove the truck in city limits but monitored it without intervention for 100 miles of the journey. Colorado state transportation officials had been informed in advance and their help was used to plan the route. A state official monitored the truck from a distance.

Uber bought the autonomous truck startup, Otto in August for $680 million. The company has been working on self-driving technology in its Pittsburg facility and plans to launch the “Uber Freight” service in the coming months.

Rather than build its own trucks, Otto designs hardware kits for existing models which make them capable of self-driving.