Peter Virk, Vice President, IVY Product & Ecosystem, Blackberry joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss how the connected car ecosystem is reducing friction and enabling new experiences for both drivers and passengers. The conversation begins with Peter discussing how his passion for cars first began and the summer holidays he spent repairing vehicles with his Uncle who worked at Ford.The passion first began with the toy cars that my parents bought me. That is where the obsession started. – Peter VirkFrom playing with toy cars as a child to repairing vehicles in the summer with his Uncle, Peter followed his passion and joined the Rover Group for a 25 year run. With 25 years of experience building and developing new technologies for Range Rovers, Grayson asks Peter how he thinks about the future of mobility.The future, if we were to really push the boundaries is, it should be, you should not have to think about it. You shouldn’t have to plan. My life, my schedule, will be planned. It’s got to know I have to get on the Eurostar tomorrow, and a vehicle will just turn up for me. – Peter VirkThe future of mobility is a frictionless experience that is always on-demand and always available. It’s a future that involves a lot less planning and a lot more enjoyment of moving from point A to point B. Connecting the dots and enabling this frictionless future is where the Blackberry IVY platform comes into the picture. The way that you reduce friction is, you make things happen. You make it easy. – Peter VirkAs we look into the future, the car of tomorrow will be connected and act as an IoT device which will unlock new features and experiences.The car of tomorrow with IVY will adapt. It will adapt to you. It will know your preferences. It will change. We’ve got software over-the-air around us now. So there will be new features. There will be ecosystem partners that we can allow to come in and work. These are not new innovations, these are expectations from consumers. – Peter VirkThese features will be platform agnostic and part of the connected car ecosystem. This ecosystem will be maintained and highly scalable. Consumers will demand that the ecosystem is always up to date and new features are added on a regular basis as they are accustomed to this from their smartphone and connected devices at home. It’s a term that I have used for many years, the always on, always connected, maybe even always listening and always available. These are foundational pieces that we expect, because that is what we got used to in our lives. Our smartphone may look like the screen is off, but it is actually on. It’s available, it’s listening, it’s giving me alerts when I need them. Why wouldn’t I not expect the same from my vehicle? – Peter VirkThe consumer expectation is coming to the vehicle and Blackberry IVY is the platform that will enable consumer expectations to be met in the vehicle. Blackberry’s heritage of encryption and security are translated into the IVY platform. It’s a pillar of strength for IVY.As consumers shift from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles, the health of the battery is starting to become a hot topic. How will the health of the battery be monitored and how will the data be shared and with whom? IVY can solve this problem as it’s a scaleable platform built on encryption and security that developers can develop apps for the ecosystem. A software defined platform is the future.Wrapping up the conversation, Peter and Grayson discuss how automation can improve the user experience in the vehicle. Recorded on Tuesday, June 14, 2022--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Greg Hrebek, President, Railspire joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss autonomous trains and their impact on the economy. The conversation begins with Grayson and Greg discussing the first partially automated train which debuted on London’s Victoria Line in 1967 and how train automation has evolved over the last 55 years. Looking to the future of autonomous trains, Greg shares the following insight:Where autonomy comes in is when you start treating autonomy as a tool, rather than the goal. If you have autonomy, you can then start doing more complex interactive interactions, we call that orchestration. – Greg HrebekOrchestration will lead to the growth of intermodal as shippers look to develop infrastructure as-a-service model when large logistics companies begin to leverage autonomous trucks and autonomous rail due to efficiencies. Today there are a lot of inefficiencies in the rail industry that can be solved with autonomy. Today, when a train comes into a yard with a crew, there is the chance that the crew could have to stay on the locomotive for 4 to five hours due to yard traffic. With autonomy, the wait is eliminated as the crew can disembark, while the locomotive waits and eventually drives itself into yard.It increases the efficiency of the network in the sense that you are not waiting on that crew to timeout. – Greg HrebekIn the rail industry there is a current lack of workers as railroads are struggling to hire. Jim Foote, CEO of CSX stated the following publicly at a 2022 AllianceBernstein Holdings conference: “CSX is turning away freight from customers, ceding cargo business to truckers as the railroad struggles to hire workers.” Technology is now a conversation of growth, not about labor savings. – Greg HrebekAs autonomy is introduced into the rail industry, it will help railroads grow and expand, which will have a positive impact on the economy. The technology will create new jobs various facets around the industry including maintenance as autonomous trains drive the track the same exact way each and every single journey. When you remove variants and variability out of something, things tend to break the same way over and over again. – Greg HrebekTaking a global approach, Greg shares his thoughts on autonomous train technology being exported to the world and where the technology will first be implemented. Grayson then asks Greg what role he wants Railspire to play as autonomous train technology scales.We want to be the folks that one enable yard operation, yard throughput. We really want to fundamentally get folks thinking around that orchestration layer. What is the next step beyond autonomy? Autonomy now we know how to do it. I call it an exercise in engineering, there is still a lot to figure out, there is a lot of logistics, but we see that we have proven it out. What is next? Once we have autonomous trains, what are the things we need to focus on? What are the things we have not thought about? Our goal is to help highlight those things. – Greg HrebekWrapping up the conversation, Greg shares is thoughts on how the freight rail market will change when autonomous locomotives scale. Recorded on Tuesday, June 7, 2022--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ted Tewksbury, CEO, Velodyne Lidar joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss Velodyne’s path to profitable LiDAR. The conversation begins with Ted discussing why he joined Velodyne now. I joined the company for three very simple reasons, first of all, I believe passionately that LiDAR is going to be an enormous market and it’s going to transform virtually every industry as we know it. Second, I believe that Velodyne has the right technologies at the right time to really capitalize on that opportunity. And, thirdly I knew that I had the right set of skills and expertise and grey hair to really help parlay the company’s technologies strengths into revenue growth, profitability and shareholder value. – Ted TewksburyIn 2021, Velodyne put in place a strong foundation for growth, including new executives and an upgraded Board of Directors. Now that the foundation has been laid, the company’s top priority for 2022 is to accelerate the company’s path to profitability. We are doing that by rationalizing our cost structure, while at the same time driving deployments of LiDAR at scale into a wide range of industries. – Ted TewksburyTaking a look at the current state of markets, Velodyne is prioritizing the industrial robotics and the intelligent infrastructure markets as the company focuses on generating profitable revenue today. Overlapping this market is the rapid growth of e-commerce fulfillment centers which inherently relay on industrial robots to move goods from the shelfs to the shipping line. It’s not just about sensors. At the end of the day, our customers are solving a business level problem, so we offer the full stack solution, software plus sensors. – Ted TewksburyUnder Ted’s leadership as CEO, the company is taking steps to lower the cost of LiDAR to sub $500 by offshoring manufacturing to Thailand. When the sub $500 LiDAR sensor is achieved, growth will be accelerated, especially in the automotive market. The biggest single challenge that faces not only Velodyne, but the entire LiDAR industry is cost. Because the competition is very inexpensive. The competition is radar and camera. – Ted TewksburyIn order to achieve cost reduction, the company has implemented a platform based design (MLA – Micro Lidar Array) strategy. With the company’s manufacturing occurring in Thailand and the current delay of 111 days for foods shipped from Asian Ports to the United States, Grayson asks Ted how he is managing the business for supply chain delays. We’re taking very proactive steps to alleviate bottlenecks. We are not just sitting idly by and waiting for the macro crisis to subside. First of all, we have lined up multiple sources for critical components, which gives us more flexibility. Second, we have redesigned some of our sensors to use more readily available components.Third, we’re judiciously building inventory on long lead-time components. Under those circumstances, that’s risky, and so we are requiring non-cancelable, non-returnable purchase orders from our customers. – Ted TewksburyBehind this strategy is Ted’s goal of Velodyne becoming the world’s first profitable LiDAR company. To achieve this goal, risk has to be managed and this is where the non-cancelable, non-returnable purchase orders strategy into comes into play. Velodyne is showing shrewd business acumen.Wrapping up the conversation, Ted shares his outlook on the economy. Recorded on Monday, June 6, 2022--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Harry Campbell, The Rideshare Guy joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss the current state of the rideshare industry from the drivers’ perspective. The conversation begins with Harry sharing his thoughts on the current state of the rideshare business. One thing that has defined the rideshare is the shortage of drivers. The shortage on the supply side, and this extends to the macro environment too. Many industries across the board have kind of reported for various reasons that they cannot hire enough workers, and Uber and Lyft have been no stranger to that. – Harry CampbellA shortage of drivers is leading to steadily increasing rates for passenger rides. With inflation currently at 8.3% and the average gallon of gas being $4.60 in the United States, the question now becomes is it even profitable for rideshare drivers to drive for Uber and Lyft in this economic environment? For sure, it’s definitely profitable. – Harry CampbellHarry goes onto to break down the economic data that encompasses a rideshare ride for the listeners from both his personal experience and data released by Uber. To achieve profitability, it all comes down to the rideshare drivers’ strategy.With a potential recession on the horizon, Grayson asks Harry if rideshare drivers are currently preparing for an economic downturn and the impact it could have on their earnings. Unfortunately, not. – Harry CampbellUnfortunately this common throughout the rideshare industry as one of the most popular Uber features for Uber Drivers is Instant Pay. The popularity of the Instant Pay feature is inherently part of a larger overall socioeconomic trend. Planning for a rainy day or building savings is not top of mind for a majority of drivers as they are focused on day-to-day finances. This trend carries over to insurance requirements as certain rideshare drivers do not carry the proper insurance. If you are interested in learning more about all the facets of the Rideshare business, Harry authored the The Rideshare Guide: Everything You Need to Know about Driving for Uber, Lyft, and Other Ridesharing Companies book which breaks down the rideshare business in great detail. The business of ridesharing is not currently profitable for operators such as Uber and Lyft. Grayson poses the question to Harry: “Can Uber and Lyft ever become profitable based on the current ways the businesses are structured?” Grayson then asks Harry whether Uber Eats is weighing down the company’s opportunity to achieve profitability. On a unit economics basis, Uber Eats is dragging down Uber the ride side of the business. – Harry CampbellWith Uber constantly doubling down on their Eats business, does DoorDash with $4.2 billion of cash on their balance sheet and a market cap of $27 billion make a run and try to acquire Lyft which has a market cap of $6.1 billion to try and compete with Uber? Grayson and Harry discuss the potential for an M&A transaction. I wouldn’t be shocked if something like that happened in the future. – Harry CampbellIf this transaction were to happen, how would Uber react? Would this further Uber’s super app push? Harry shares his thoughts on how Uber could potentially counter the move. Could Uber look to sell Uber Freight which currently operates at a 1% margin to shore up their balance sheet and focus on their core business of rides and delivery?Wrapping up the conversation, Grayson and Harry discuss the future of the rideshare business and what happens when autonomous vehicles scale globally. Recorded on Tuesday, May 31, 2022--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sam Abidi, Chief Commercial Officer, Embark Trucks joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss Embark’s asset-light approach to autonomous trucking. The conversation begins with Sam discussing how Embark as a pre-revenue company is approaching commercialization. We expect to scale operations by way of our carriers who will haul goods for the shippers that we work with, and we expect to work with Tier 1’s and OEMs to deliver that. – Sam AbidiTo deliver on this model, Embark has a partnership with Knight-Swift where Knight-Swift will own and operate the autonomous trucks running Embark’s Universal Interface. We set out on a rather large effort to develop a standardized set of sensors and compute with flexible mounts and communication interfaces, so that our AV system could go from one OEM to another. – Sam AbidiEach truck running the Embark Universal Interface will have a very similar user interface and experience across multiple OEMs which makes the system scalable. Embark’s system will allow carriers to add more capacity due to hours of service regulations which increases the amount of time it takes for a load to reach its final destination. With the U.S. inflation rate currently at 8.3%, a 40-year high and a driver shortage which is only growing, Grayson and Sam discuss why autonomous trucking is not being embraced as a tool to help reduce inflation by stabilizing the supply chain. It’s a complicated story, you got to have a second order understanding of how supply chains work, you got to understand hours of service, you got to understand relay networks and hub networks, to really recognize how autonomy unlocks e-commerce and two-day delivery, and everyone’s desire for cheap goods. – Sam AbidiWhen autonomous trucking is fully embraced by regulators, politicians and the public, the U.S. economy will benefit from job creation and lower inflation. For autonomous trucking to truly scale, partnerships are key. Embark has a partnership with Alterra for autonomous trucking terminals. At those depots, Ryder will be providing on-site services that are required to properly operate an autonomous trucking operation. From an infrastructure standpoint there are minor upgrades that have to be made to begin autonomous trucking operations, which will allow Embark to scale their terminal networks with partners.With the average price of diesel in the U.S. being $5.52 a gallon, Embark is beginning to look at alternative forms of fuel.We look forward to a platform that can run on electric or hydrogen for the distances that make sense for autonomy. – Sam AbidiWrapping up the conversation, Sam shares his thoughts on the current state of the autonomous trucking industry. Recorded on Tuesday, May 24, 2022--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Scott Case, Co-Founder & CEO of Recurrent joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss using data to understand the true health of electric vehicle batteries.The conversation begins with Grayson asking Scott about the BloombergNEF 2040 electric vehicle forecast. I think every forecast made by everyone is wrong and too low. – Scott CaseWith over 9,000 vehicles currently on the Recurrent platform and the market for electric vehicle sales projected to grow globally 17.25% annually into 2040, Recurrent is preparing for the rapid growth of their platform. The Recurrent platform is gathering insights on how electric vehicle batteries perform in different climates, whether it’s a cold or hot weather region. Exposure to extreme heat over time will break down the battery, it will wear it out more quickly. – Scott CaseOn the other hand, exposure to extreme cold will not wear about the battery more quickly. With the wear on the battery, electric vehicles sold and driven in these environments could have a positive or negative impact on the resell value of the vehicle depending on the conditions. Grayson asks Scott from an economic standpoint if the health of the battery will be the determining factor when it comes to the price of an electric vehicle.It’s not yet, but it is going to be. – Scott CaseThis raises the question of what happens when electric vehicles come out of rental car fleets and are sold as used vehicles. How will they be properly priced? Will the pricing be based on the odometer reading or the health of the battery? Grayson and Scott discuss the possible ways the vehicles could be priced and whether a battery swap will be needed prior to selling the used electric vehicle.With the majority of Recurrent’s data coming from individual EV owners and the United States currently dealing with record high gas prices of $4.58 a gallon, Grayson asks Scott if he is seeing consumers switching from gas cars to electric cars due the high gas prices.High gas prices haven’t factored into that at all. Not yet, they are going to. – Scott CaseMaking reference to data to validate his point, Scott points to data from the Argonne National Laboratory.With J.P. Morgan projecting the national average price to hit $6 per gallon by the end of the summer, the transition to electric vehicles could accelerate. However, there could be an issue⁠ charging those newly bought electric vehicles as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, the regulatory body that oversees grid stability is publicly stating that power supplies in the much of the United States and Canada will be stretched. If the grid issues persist, the adoption of EVs could be slowed. Wrapping up the conversation, Scott discusses how he sees the used EV market growing and evolving over the next decade.Recorded on Friday, May 20, 2022--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gavin Jackson, CEO of Oxbotica joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss how the Oxbotica platform is enabling universal autonomy. The conversation begins with Gavin discussing why he came on as CEO of Oxbotica in December 2021. I feel that the autonomy space still is in the very very early stages of being quite a transformative technology, and almost a generational shift in how people and goods will move forever. It’s attractive to me to be so early in such a movement. It’s attractive to me, because I think that the impact that this sort of technology can have on the world will be profound. – Gavin JacksonWith Gavin’s background at Amazon and Microsoft, he is positioning the company to become a platform. As a universal platform we are able to compose solutions for different verticals, different vehicle types and different domains. With the very same Oxbotica driver platform, you are able to drive big heavy 600 ton trucks in a mine, or 40 ton trucks on a hub-to-hub on a highway or urban densely populated old fashioned victorian London street for goods delivery or indeed for passengers. – Gavin JacksonThe platform approach allows Oxbotica to develop solutions that are both convenient for riders and friendly to the environment through the reduction in carbon emissions. Being based in the UK, Gavin shares his thoughts on the UK market as it relates to autonomous vehicles.All of the infrastructure that exists in the UK is there for excellence. – Gavin JacksonAs Oxbotica scales, the company has global ambitions. In Germany at BP’s Lingen refinery, Oxbotica trialed an autonomous vehicle at the refinery as part of BP’s technical due diligence prior investing in the company. Deploying an autonomous vehicle at a refinery requires trust and transparency. This is exactly what Oxbotica did and they thrived at it, as it lead to an investment by BP which was a clear validation of their approach.With the proven success of operating at a BP refinery, the company is looking to expand their business in the Oil & Gas market as they prepare to scale their industrial autonomy platform.We think that autonomy is going to change the game. – Gavin JacksonOxbotica’s industrial autonomy platform is also being deployed in the mining industry through a partnership with Wenco, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery. By using autonomous vehicles in mines, global miners are able to reduce carbon emissions due to the lack of idling and in some cases, the electrification of heavy-duty mining vehicles. From autonomous shuttles to autonomous cars to heavy duty mining trucks, Oxbotica is taking a platform approach to autonomy. The diversity of vehicle type is really attractive to us, because it really ignites what we are here to do, which is universal autonomy. One unified platform to drive all of these vehicles. – Gavin JacksonWrapping up the conversation, Gavin shares his vision for the future of Oxbotica.Recorded on Tuesday, May 10, 2022--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wouter Witvoet, CEO, EVT Group, joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss electrifying the iconic MOKE and reinvigorating a brand that was built around lifestyles and experiences. The conversation begins with Wouter discussing how as the largest shareholder of MOKE International, he is planning on reinvigorating the iconic MOKE brand. What we are effectively doing at EV Technology Group with the MOKE brand is that we take a lot of this excitement that exists around this brand, a lot of the following that is there and just creating an electric version of this that is effectively suitable for today’s age which is very much an electric age. – Wouter WitvoetAs car brands around the world begin the process of electrifying their iconic vehicles, some brands are taking this as an opportunity to redesign the vehicle, instead of focusing on the heritage of the brand. MOKE International has made the decision to lean into the future by electrifying, all the while respecting the heritage and the design of the iconic vehicle.When a brand electrifies a vehicle:It always has to start where the brand left off. – Wouter WitvoetBy taking this approach, the MOKE brand is building upon its heritage and the famous photos of Bridget Bardot driving the vehicle around Saint-Tropez. As the 2022 Season begins in Saint-Tropez, EVT will be integrating the MOKE experience into the overall Saint-Tropez experience through partnerships with villa rental operators and concierge services.In Saint-Tropez, you are coming here for an experience. You are not coming here because you need to be in Saint-Tropez. In the same logic you drive a MOKE because you want to drive a MOKE, not because it is necessarily the best car to go from A to B. It’s about an experience. – Wouter WitvoetThe new electric MOKE will be introduced as a subscription plan for €650 a month Saint-Tropez Season Pass and three year subscription service options. Looking to the future and enhancing the subscription service, there is a possibly that EVT will introduce a MOKE subscription plan that travels with you around the world.It’s about just having access to an EV wherever you go. – Wouter WitvoetExpanding the brand from a vehicle to a lifestyle, EVT will be introducing Casa MOKE this summer in Saint-Tropez. If Casa MOKE proves to be successful, the concept will be exported to iconic locations around the world and localized to the environment. If you have a MOKE, then something must be good in your life. – Wouter WitvoetAs EVT looks to expand the MOKE brand into new markets, the brand will introduce region specific MOKE experiences. Our thesis is that if you are talking about a luxury brand, you are talking about experiences. You need to launch a car on the market with a certain activity that is locally for that market. – Wouter WitvoetWrapping up the conversation, Wouter discusses EVT’s strategy as the company expands their brand portfolio. Recorded on Tuesday, May 3, 2022--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Vivian Sun, Chief Commercial Officer, Waabi, joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss Waabi World and a simulation-first approach to autonomous trucking. The conversation begins with Vivian sharing her thoughts on when consolidation comes to the autonomous trucking industry. While consolidation is on the horizon, Waabi (which was founded in June 2021) is taking a different path to developing and scaling autonomous trucks. Autonomy is a marathon. – Vivian SunTheir approach to autonomy using a simulation-first approach is one that could completely change the end-to-end development process of autonomous trucks. As Waabi prepares to scale, Vivian shares some of the lessons that she learned earlier in her career and how Waabi can avoid those situations. It is really important that we have a scalable, adaptable technology. – Vivian SunA simulation-first approach to autonomy is allowing Waabi to operate a leaner corporate structure with less overhead as they develop the technology. From an economic standpoint, with the Federal Reserve raising rates as well as the European Central Bank, operating an autonomous trucking with a lean overhead will become a completive advantage as credit markets tighten.There are huge advantages of a more cost efficient way of developing self-driving technology. – Vivian SunThe key technology enabling this approach to autonomy is Waabi World, a high fidelity driving simulator. Inside of Waabi World, weather elements such as rain, fog, wind, ice and snow can be simulated to create real-world driving scenarios. These scenarios, combined with real-world traffic data, will help to develop a confident and safe Waabi Driver. While the Waabi Driver is being developed in simulation, professional truck drivers are playing a key role in the system ⁠— the Waabi Driver is learning from million plus miler drivers. We want to create a new paradigm to solve autonomy. – Vivian SunWrapping up the conversation, Vivian discusses Waabi’s partnership strategy and the company’s plans for commercialization. Recorded on Tuesday, April 19, 2022--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Craig Harper, Chief Sustainability Officer and Executive Vice President, J.B. Hunt Transport Service joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss decarbonizing the supply chain. The conversation begins with Craig discussing the reason why he stepped into the role of Chief Sustainability Officer in late 2020. When he began to develop J.B. Hunt’s sustainability plan he started by understanding how J.B. Hunt is perceived in the marketplace and by rating agencies. It’s been a good progress, steps to go through looking at those different rating agencies seeing how they each interpret different segments of the business and where we need to improve. – Craig HarperOn Monday, April 4, 2022 J.B. Hunt launched their CLEAN Transport Program to help customers reduce the carbon footprint of their supply chain. Intermodal is a great offering that we have, provides significant benefit to our customer, to citizens across the globe with a 60% reduction on the amount of carbon that it takes to move the same load from point-to-point all the way by truck versus what it takes to move intermodal. But even when you get that 60% reduction, you still have some residual carbon. And it’s like what are we going to do with this? This is where carbon offsets come in, and what that does it allows a customer to purchase offsets that fund an activity that reduces carbon and make their transport carbon neutral. – Craig HarperWhile we wait for electric trucks to scale, intermodal offers an opportunity for shippers to reduce their carbon emissions by 60% today.As an organization we said publicly we feel like there is somewhere between 7 to 11 million more loads that could be converted to intermodal. – Craig HarperAnother way to reduce carbon emissions is renewable diesel. In 2020, 51% of all of the fuel J.B. Hunt purchased was a bio-blended diesel product. Today, the company’s total weighted average of fuel from renewable sources is 8%. More and more renewable diesel is coming online each and every day, that is going to be great for the industry. – Craig HarperJ.B. Hunt has a culture of innovation. From embracing renewable diesel to entering into a market study with Waymo to pilot autonomous trucks, J.B. Hunt continues to look forward towards the future. Prior to entering into a market study agreement, Craig visited the Waymo team in Chandler, AZ and took a ride in Waymo’s fully autonomous vehicle. The trip was a culmination of a trusted relationship. As it relates the deployment of autonomous trucks, Craig shared the following insight:We believe that the technology will indeed pull certain types of freight on certain lanes and we are excited to play a part in it. – Craig HarperEven as autonomous trucks scale, skilled professional drivers will continue to play a significant role in the future of the trucking industry. Wrapping up the conversation, Craig and Grayson discussed the infrastructure that is needed to scale electric heavy-duty trucks.Recorded on Monday, April 4, 2022--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.