Trucks | Future of Transportation for 2026.05.04
FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital

Notable

California's new rules for AVs are operator positive, with compliance thresholds rising (link). Among the high points: Heavy duty AV trucks get the OK, structured response and communication times between AVs and first responders / emergency, AVs can receive tickets, new tougher remote operator guidelines.

Uber's CTO posted this video he took of a Waymo overtaking on the wrong side of the road in San Francisco (link). He wrote: 'Scary Waymo moment in SF today - it overtook a Muni bus in the wrong lane at a signal, didn’t stop, and aggressively tried to squeeze between me and the bus. Had the bus driver and I not steered away, this could have been a serious incident.' There are likely three ways to read this, starting with the most reasonable: 1) this is an individual who saw something that an AV shouldn't have done and he posted it, 2) it doesn't matter that his company has a collaboration and partnership with Waymo and in fact we should celebrate that the business partnership hasn't clouded his view of what's right / wrong 3) it potentially shows the Uber/Waymo relationship is fracturing into something more like frenemies.

Hertz's 'Oro Mobility' is a new fleet management business specifically targeting ridehailing and eventually AV ridehailing (link). Via Patrick H. The first AVs under the agreement will be Uber/Nuro/Lucid units in SF. The most unusual part of this, and perhaps which puts them at the front of the line as a fleet operator of more AVs in the future, is that they are actually employing drivers along with the vehicles (imagine the internal discussions on that decision to all of a sudden learn how to hire and manage drivers). Ridehailing platforms are starting to view the driver and vehicle as a single unit, whether this is 'driver-led' (Hertz's words) or a pure AV. From an Uber point of view, this plays into their supplier diversification tactic; they benefit from many upstream and downstream supply partners, and is generally impaired when that number gets smaller.

China froze new licenses for AVs after Baidu's robotaxis broke down in Wuhan (link). 'In the Wuhan incident, more than 100 Apollo Go robotaxis stalled on city streets on March 31, according to Chinese media reports. Local police said the outage was likely caused by a systems fault, although Baidu has yet to comment on the cause. Apollo Go is the largest robotaxi provider in China, with hundreds of vehicles in more than a dozen cities.' I asked my friend and China expert Mike Dunne about this: 'Like Hegels dialectics, Chinese authorities swing warm then cold then warm again on AVs, trying to find that sweet spot.'

Detroit carmakers warn of $5B commodities shock due to Iran war (link). 'The biggest pain point for the automotive industry has been aluminum, whose price on the London Metal Exchange has risen as much as 16% since the outbreak of the war. The metal is widely used in vehicles from body panels, engines and doors. Gerrit Reepmeyer, partner at consultancy AlixPartners, estimated that the rise in aluminum prices could add between $500 and $1,500 to the cost of a vehicle, if it persists and no hedges were applied.'

Video: Charging a Li Auto - at a mind-bending kilometer per second (link). Video: delivery truck driver struck by airplane on final approach to Newark airport (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

AV off-roading and defense startup Scout AI raises $100M (link). Led by Align Ventures and Draper Associates.

Lenovo and AV company WeRide announce collaboration over next five years, up to 200,000 vehicles (link).

Forvia sells auto interiors business to Apollo for $2.1B (link).

Robotic charging startup Rocsys raises $13M (link). Led by Capricorn Partners.

Low-cost American airline carrier Spirit shuts down (link). A group is trying to buy it back using the 'Green Bay Packers' ownership model (link).

BMW iVentures announces its latest venture fund with $300M in backing (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Winnebago Industries: Emily Silver joins board (link).

Forward Air: Charles Anderson, Robert Edwards to leave board (link).

Deere & Co: Brent Norwood promoted to CFO (link).

Curated Jobs:

View over new 1150 active job listings from companies like Lucid Motors (link), Torc Robotics (link) and Xpeng Motors (link).

Deep Learning Compiler Engineer at Quadric in Burlingame, California, United States (link).

Lead Program Manager at May Mobility in Ann Arbor, MI (link).

New Stuff:

A new discovery of lithium in the American Appalachian region is said to be large enough to power 130 million electric vehicles (link).

Hirschbach Motor Lines expands MOU with Aurora for up to 500 AV trucks (link).

AV trucking startup Bot Auto delivers first load with no driver or attendant in cab (link).

'Bahn Bet' = bet on German train delays (link). Via Steve G.

Google's Gemini arrives inside 4M GM vehicles (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

Ford's patent application for AV service identification and repair (link).

Statistics / Projections:

Three new cars are added to the Most Efficient Electric Cars in the US: 2026 Subaru Uncharted, 2026 Tesla Model Y Standard (AWD) and 2026 Lexus RZ 350e (FWD, 18") (link).

With gasoline prices up 33% in one week, Americans spend $125 more than they did one week ago (link).

Drivers are more likely to use their phones while speeding (link). Via IIHS. 'A 5 mph increase in speed relative to the limit was associated with an increase in cellphone manipulation.'

Used EV sales in the US were up 59% from February of this year (link). Via CNBC. 'If you drive about 1,015 miles per month, charging an electric car at home would cost about $59.66 monthly...For a gas car getting 30 miles per gallon, the fuel cost would be $147.24 for that monthly mileage.'

Thank you:

Thank you to Ben Marcus (link), David Merrill (link), Alex Nesic (link) and Haley Prout (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

May Mobility (link), Quadric (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

We have a divine discontent with our performance. It is an antidote to smugness (D. Ogilvy),

Reilly Brennan