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Human cloud firm Uber takes business model to freight

May 19, 2017

Uber, one of the largest human cloud firms, announced Uber Freight, which aims to match truck drivers with loads to haul.

“What used to take several hours and multiple phone calls can now be achieved with the touch of a button,” according to an Uber Freight post on Medium. “Vetted users download the app, search for a load, and simply tap to book it. We send a rate confirmation within seconds, eliminating a common anxiety in trucking about whether or not the load is really confirmed.”

Uber Freight also plans to pay drivers within a few days, saying that’s an improvement over the current situation in which trucking companies typically wait 30 days or longer for payment.

TechCrunch noted that Uber Freight’s announcement does not mention Otto, an Uber company aimed at making driverless trucks.

Separately, Uber is threatening to fire the self-driving car engineer it hired from Google parent Alphabet who was later at the center of a lawsuit against Uber by Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving car division, Reuters reported.