Welcome to the WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Newsletter presented by Chevron Renewable Energy Group. In this issue, Squats Across America; Aurora and Uber Freight team up; RXO stock soars; and more.
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Squats Across America
Get low — About a month and a half ago, my father had a heart attack and required a double bypass. This lit a bit of a fire under my ass as I could stand to lose a good 20 or so pounds.
So, I reached out to Offshift’s Mark Manera, who has a doctorate in physical therapy, to talk about it. He runs a program designed for truckers that promotes healthy exercise and eating while keeping in mind the constraints drivers face on the road.
I decided to join the program so that I could get in shape and also understand how it works for our nation’s road warriors.
But that wasn’t enough. We decided that in order to have a greater impact we needed to involve the community. We needed a challenge.
Squats Across America — Over the past two weeks, Mark and I have been challenging truckers and the logistics community to get up and get moving. The challenge is simple: Do 10 air squats then tag me and Mark on social media.
Some of you have blown us away with your creativity. We’ve had squats in a minus-30-degree arctic testing room, squats in the middle of the forest, squats at truck stops, squats with men holding ducks and more. So far we’ve received squats from over 35 states!
Get to squatting, get to tagging us, and get to inspiring our community to get up and get moving this summer.
Join us — Air squats are awesome, but if you want to join the full program, jump onto my group with Offshift. We’re doing daily challenges, a little exercise and a lot of eating right. For details, click here.
Aurora and Uber Freight team up on autonomous trucks
Uber Freight
Drivers as a Service — DaaS is coming to a lane near you via a partnership between Aurora and Uber Freight. What’s a Drivers-as-a-Service model (DaaS)? According to FreightWaves, “carriers purchase the trucks equipped with Aurora’s technology and leverage Uber Freight’s available loads.”
Uber Freight and Arora’s new Premier Autonomy program is available now through 2030. It allows qualified carriers to purchase Class 8 trucks with an autonomous driving subscription.
Getting qualified and onboarded can take 12-18 months for a carrier to receive. When it does, “The program will use Uber Freight’s technology and shipment network to identify freight that would be a good fit for autonomous runs.”
What do you think? Do you like autonomous trucks? Hate them? Personally, I don’t think a robot driver is gonna do squats for me, so I’m sticking with the humans for now! Sound off in my email.
The street likes the RXO deal
Market movers — The headline of the summer dropped on Sunday when the UPS deal to sell Coyote to RXO for $1 billion broke. When the markets opened on Monday, the traders spoke. RXO hit a 52-week high of $25.07. That “was up about 21.9%,” FreightWaves’ John Kingston reports.
The purchase makes RXO the third-largest broker behind C.H. Robinson and TQL.
Meanwhile, over at UPS, the stock is down 3% Tuesday.
For a full breakdown of the deal, catch our last episode. FreightWaves’ Craig Fuller and I dissected the deal. Watch it here.
Rate The Strap Work shirts have arrived
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WTT Wednesday
Drivers as a Service — This Wednesday on WHAT THE TRUCK?!?, I’m joined by Truck Tech’s Alan Adler to break down the autonomous trucking deal between Aurora and Uber Freight. We’ll also look into Gatik’s strides toward mass production of autonomous trucks. And we’ll look into the good, the bad and the ugly of Drivers as a Service.
It’s Christmas in July so Reliance Partners is Haulin’ for the Holidays. Jessie Merritt tells us all about the fundraiser that they’re doing along with Tennessee Trucking Association and the Young Professionals Council.
Qued’s enigmatic Tom Curee jumps on the show to talk about the company’s new scheduling API partnership, and he’ll also share with us how to remove a swarm of bees from your house.
Plus, latest news, weirdness and trends.
Catch new shows live at noon EDT Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on FreightWaves LinkedIn, Facebook, X or YouTube, or on demand by looking up WHAT THE TRUCK?!? on your favorite podcast player and at 5 p.m. Eastern on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Trucking Channel 146.
$1,100 off F3 tix
Scan the image, click this link or use my code, WTTF324, to get the cheapest ticket available for F3 Nov. 19-21.
Now on demand
Breaking down UPS’ $1 Billion sale of Coyote to RXO
Tender rejects break 5%; how clean fuels work; future of truck insurance
The rest of the noise
- Federal judge rejects arguments against Manhattan congestion pricing plan
- Avocado truck overturns on US 101 in San Mateo
- Italian court reveals Dior’s unethical supply chain and puts other luxury brands on notice
- Global supply chains under strain
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Don’t be a stranger,
Dooner
