# Uber Is About to Kill a Lot More Jobs - Mel Magazine - 11Jan2017



## Michael - Cleveland

https://melmagazine.com/uber-is-about-to-kill-a-lot-more-jobs-f4497f5538d#.4xs5a889o
*Uber Is About to Kill a Lot More Jobs*
*The bane of taxi drivers everywhere is now taking on logistics*
Published on January 11, 2017 by John McDermott - MEL Magazine

At the end of December Uber debuted Uber Freight, its foray into the un-sexy yet lucrative world of logistics. Many saw Uber's entry into freight as a death knell for trucking companies, as Uber is looking to build a fleet of driverless trucks.








And while the threat to trucking is real, Uber Freight poses a more immediate risk to the thousands of mid-level, white-collar support staff jobs in the industry.

My first job out of a college was for one of the several third-party logistics (3PL) firms Uber will now compete with, and every day I worked there I sat around thinking (wishing!) some well-financed, technologically savvy company would come along and streamline the process and free me from the mindless drudgery of the job.

Here's how things operate in third-party logistics (also known as freight brokerage).

A team of account representatives speaks with "shippers" - companies looking to move goods from Points A to B - about what shipments (or "loads") they're looking to move that day, and then enter that information into their software system. Meanwhile, another team of account representatives speaks with "carriers" (trucking companies) about where in the U.S. they have empty trucks and enter _that_ data into the software, as well. Operations workers then match trucks to shipments and broker deals.

Say Anheuser-Busch needs to move cases of Budweiser from its plant in St. Louis to a warehouse in Chicago, for example. And say a truck empties a shipment in nearby St. Charles, Missouri, and wants to pick up a load for its ride back to Racine, Wisconsin. Anheuser-Busch would pay the 3PL to handle the shipment, and the 3PL would turn around and pay the truck to move the beer. (The 3PL makes money by paying the trucker less than Anheuser-Busch paid it.)

If this process seems wildly inefficient, it is! A 3PL is the definition of a middleman, and employs hundreds, if not thousands, of operations employees to input this data and brokers these deals every day.

Uber is uniquely positioned to streamline the industry, though. Much like the company's ride-hailing app cuts out the taxi dispatcher and allows people to hail rides directly from drivers, Uber Freight can create a platform where shippers and truckers broker shipping orders directly with one another, effectively rendering obsolete thousands of 3PL workers. It replaces people with software, and configures a labor-intensive industry into a SaaS business.

Uber has hired away several of my former colleagues to build its freight division, including the former chief business development officer and another employee who was being groomed for upper-level management, as well as about a dozen others from competing 3PL firms C.H. Robinson, Echo Logistics, AFN, Command and 4Front.

There's a chance these competitors will be able to withstand Uber's entry to the market. They have pre-existing relationships with many of the world's largest shippers, and reputations for moving loads reliably and cheaply. And many of them already host their software in the cloud so shippers and carriers can access it directly.

Uber, for its part, has billions in venture capital it can devote toward building a freight platform and a willingness to drive down prices in its relentless pursuit of market share. The domestic 3PL market is worth more than $150 billion by some estimates, so it's fair to assume Uber will approach things with its trademark aggressiveness.

Again, none of this means that trucking is safe. Uber acquired self-driving truck startup Otto in August 2016, and two months later Otto made its first automated delivery: 50,000 cans of Budweiser it delivered 120 miles from Fort Collins, Colorado, to Colorado Springs. That said, truck drivers' jobs are secure for the foreseeable future. Otto's trucks require a human driver be present and are only fully automated for highway driving. And it'll be years (decades?) before Otto passes regulatory hurdles. If cities are already wary of Uber's driverless cars program, they're even less likely to let a multi-ton 18-wheeler ride without a driver.

The more pressing threat is to the thousands of operations workers who make sure the trucks run on time. The loss of these jobs is inevitable-comparable to what's happened in the commodities trading industry, where high-frequency trading algorithms have replaced human brokers.

Many people who are not me enjoy working in third-party logistics. The job is relatively easy - anyone who's mildly competent and can handle the monotony of it can reasonably expect to earn a six-figure living after a few years of hard work. You don't need a specialized education (or even a college degree) to do the job well.

But much of the work is also mindless data entry, and it's easy to see why Uber sees an opportunity to do things more efficiently.

Many people have pointed out that automation, not China or Mexico, is the real threat to blue-collar American jobs. Overlooked, however, are all the non-executive white-collar administrative jobs that will also be rendered obsolete by technology.

Famed venture capitalist Marc Andreessen is fond of the phrase "software is eating the world," meaning that it's replacing many of the post-industrial, pre-internet jobs once thought to be essential. Problem is, one man's efficiency is another's unemployment.
.


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## Jermin8r89

Michael - Cleveland said:


> https://melmagazine.com/uber-is-about-to-kill-a-lot-more-jobs-f4497f5538d#.4xs5a889o
> *Uber Is About to Kill a Lot More Jobs*
> *The bane of taxi drivers everywhere is now taking on logistics*
> Published on January 11, 2017 by John McDermott - MEL Magazine
> 
> At the end of December Uber debuted Uber Freight, its foray into the un-sexy yet lucrative world of logistics. Many saw Uber's entry into freight as a death knell for trucking companies, as Uber is looking to build a fleet of driverless trucks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And while the threat to trucking is real, Uber Freight poses a more immediate risk to the thousands of mid-level, white-collar support staff jobs in the industry.
> 
> My first job out of a college was for one of the several third-party logistics (3PL) firms Uber will now compete with, and every day I worked there I sat around thinking (wishing!) some well-financed, technologically savvy company would come along and streamline the process and free me from the mindless drudgery of the job.
> 
> Here's how things operate in third-party logistics (also known as freight brokerage).
> 
> A team of account representatives speaks with "shippers" - companies looking to move goods from Points A to B - about what shipments (or "loads") they're looking to move that day, and then enter that information into their software system. Meanwhile, another team of account representatives speaks with "carriers" (trucking companies) about where in the U.S. they have empty trucks and enter _that_ data into the software, as well. Operations workers then match trucks to shipments and broker deals.
> 
> Say Anheuser-Busch needs to move cases of Budweiser from its plant in St. Louis to a warehouse in Chicago, for example. And say a truck empties a shipment in nearby St. Charles, Missouri, and wants to pick up a load for its ride back to Racine, Wisconsin. Anheuser-Busch would pay the 3PL to handle the shipment, and the 3PL would turn around and pay the truck to move the beer. (The 3PL makes money by paying the trucker less than Anheuser-Busch paid it.)
> 
> If this process seems wildly inefficient, it is! A 3PL is the definition of a middleman, and employs hundreds, if not thousands, of operations employees to input this data and brokers these deals every day.
> 
> Uber is uniquely positioned to streamline the industry, though. Much like the company's ride-hailing app cuts out the taxi dispatcher and allows people to hail rides directly from drivers, Uber Freight can create a platform where shippers and truckers broker shipping orders directly with one another, effectively rendering obsolete thousands of 3PL workers. It replaces people with software, and configures a labor-intensive industry into a SaaS business.
> 
> Uber has hired away several of my former colleagues to build its freight division, including the former chief business development officer and another employee who was being groomed for upper-level management, as well as about a dozen others from competing 3PL firms C.H. Robinson, Echo Logistics, AFN, Command and 4Front.
> 
> There's a chance these competitors will be able to withstand Uber's entry to the market. They have pre-existing relationships with many of the world's largest shippers, and reputations for moving loads reliably and cheaply. And many of them already host their software in the cloud so shippers and carriers can access it directly.
> 
> Uber, for its part, has billions in venture capital it can devote toward building a freight platform and a willingness to drive down prices in its relentless pursuit of market share. The domestic 3PL market is worth more than $150 billion by some estimates, so it's fair to assume Uber will approach things with its trademark aggressiveness.
> 
> Again, none of this means that trucking is safe. Uber acquired self-driving truck startup Otto in August 2016, and two months later Otto made its first automated delivery: 50,000 cans of Budweiser it delivered 120 miles from Fort Collins, Colorado, to Colorado Springs. That said, truck drivers' jobs are secure for the foreseeable future. Otto's trucks require a human driver be present and are only fully automated for highway driving. And it'll be years (decades?) before Otto passes regulatory hurdles. If cities are already wary of Uber's driverless cars program, they're even less likely to let a multi-ton 18-wheeler ride without a driver.
> 
> The more pressing threat is to the thousands of operations workers who make sure the trucks run on time. The loss of these jobs is inevitable-comparable to what's happened in the commodities trading industry, where high-frequency trading algorithms have replaced human brokers.
> 
> Many people who are not me enjoy working in third-party logistics. The job is relatively easy - anyone who's mildly competent and can handle the monotony of it can reasonably expect to earn a six-figure living after a few years of hard work. You don't need a specialized education (or even a college degree) to do the job well.
> 
> But much of the work is also mindless data entry, and it's easy to see why Uber sees an opportunity to do things more efficiently.
> 
> Many people have pointed out that automation, not China or Mexico, is the real threat to blue-collar American jobs. Overlooked, however, are all the non-executive white-collar administrative jobs that will also be rendered obsolete by technology.
> 
> Famed venture capitalist Marc Andreessen is fond of the phrase "software is eating the world," meaning that it's replacing many of the post-industrial, pre-internet jobs once thought to be essential. Problem is, one man's efficiency is another's unemployment.
> .


Im a trucker right now. This is the future but haveing noone in a truck is still decades away. From what im hearing is that they will make us like pilots for a number of years as its different then a car as itll have cargo of of many different types of materials u will need caution with.

My worry is once they do that is will they lower payrates or keep them the same


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## flexian

ok........now THIS is some Enron......

uber = done


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## Michael - Cleveland

flexian said:


> ok........now THIS is some Enron...... uber = done


Please explain what you you're saying.
(because it sounds to me like you reacted to the headline but didn't read the article)


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## flexian

......not only did i read it.....i understood it.....

enron = market-makers who got in over their head

if its so easy to match trucks w orders, itd be automated already

financial shenanigans destined 2 ensue here

uber = done here

but first an ipo


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## Michael - Cleveland

flexian said:


> ......not only did i read it.....i understood it.....
> enron = market-makers who got in over their head
> if its so easy to match trucks w orders, itd be automated already
> financial shenanigans destined 2 ensue here
> uber = done here but first an ipo


Maybe, I guess.
But I suspect that's not the case and that Uber is only just beginning to sell their product to the market - and that product isn't transportation or logistics, but data - and access to data. Rideshare, Delivery, Logistics are all just sponges that collect data. Enormous amounts of data. The kind of data that companies large and small pay big money to use for micro-targeted marketing.


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## Trafficat

Uber freight... cool.

But driverless big rig trucks? Will they be able to apply their own chains during winter weather?


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## flexian

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Maybe, I guess.
> But I suspect that's not the case and that Uber is only just beginning to sell their product to the market - and that product isn't transportation or logistics, but data - and access to data. Rideshare, Delivery, Logistics are all just sponges that collect data. Enormous amounts of data. The kind of data that companies large and small pay big money to use for micro-targeted marketing.


thatd take too long.....ads have been done longer by better....uber has nothing 2 add here

they need to ipo soon

they need a moonshot idea or profits or both


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## RamzFanz

Trafficat said:


> Uber freight... cool.
> 
> But driverless big rig trucks? Will they be able to apply their own chains during winter weather?


Driverless doesn't mean humanless.


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## Mars Troll Number 4

My plan is to hack a truck and "redirect" a truck full of produce off it's original course then have dozen of roadside stands selling the produce for way less than cost.

I will hire people off task rabbit to unload it from the self driving trucks and sell it.

And I can do it all from my mansion in Columbia while ripping off these companies and putting other people at risk of getting in trouble,

And i shall call it... UberWaterMelon.


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## htboston

One rock thrown at their driving sensors will really mess up this autonomous-driving era, lol


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## Jermin8r89

Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> My plan is to hack a truck and "redirect" a truck full of produce off it's original course then have dozen of roadside stands selling the produce for way less than cost.
> 
> I will hire people off task rabbit to unload it from the self driving trucks and sell it.
> 
> And I can do it all from my mansion in Columbia while ripping off these companies and putting other people at risk of getting in trouble,
> 
> And i shall call it... UberWaterMelon.


There r alot of hackers out there these days. 2016 the year of the hacks.

I cant wait till self driveing world i think its gonna be like total recall. U think u going to mars but its an illusion


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## 123dragon

Wouldn't it be easier to attack ATMs then self driving cars?


An ATM is stationary.
There's tons of them all over the place
They have cash so you don't have to convert it cash.

I don't get why anyone would chase down SDV, they're probably going to be more work...


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## Trafficat

123dragon said:


> Wouldn't it be easier to attack ATMs then self driving cars?
> 
> 
> An ATM is stationary.
> There's tons of them all over the place
> They have cash so you don't have to convert it cash.
> 
> I don't get why anyone would chase down SDV, they're probably going to be more work...


Because ATMs tend to be in urban areas, and are specifically designed to be difficult to break into. That translates into a high likelihood of getting caught by the police since you probably only have a 5-15 to complete the crime before the five-O is on your six. Whereas highwaymen target folks out in the middle of no where and anticipate no resistance. Motorists in the middle of bum-hole nowhere may have no cell reception, and even if they do call for help the police are likely to be over half an hour away and that's just for the nearest highway patrolman who may not be willing to take on a whole gang of bandits on his own.

I suppose that is the theory behind it, anyway. I have no stats on the relative numbers of ATMs broken into versus trucks attacked by highwaymen.


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## Jermin8r89

ATMs r almost as guarded as president. So many sensors on those as many sensors as u name. Even if u take it cams r everywhere same with people with proximidies to tell companies where it is. Its almost impossable toget away with it. Even if theres an error and money spits out and u take it u can be arrested for robbery also.

Anyways whats cash if u cant use it for ur uber to get away


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## Soldiering

I talked too a trucker who got a loaf from UBER freight. He said it was a nightmare and no money was made. Will never do it again. Hmmm sounds familiar. One day Gruber will reap what it has sown an continues to sow.


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## tohunt4me

Michael - Cleveland said:


> https://melmagazine.com/uber-is-about-to-kill-a-lot-more-jobs-f4497f5538d#.4xs5a889o
> *Uber Is About to Kill a Lot More Jobs*
> *The bane of taxi drivers everywhere is now taking on logistics*
> Published on January 11, 2017 by John McDermott - MEL Magazine
> 
> At the end of December Uber debuted Uber Freight, its foray into the un-sexy yet lucrative world of logistics. Many saw Uber's entry into freight as a death knell for trucking companies, as Uber is looking to build a fleet of driverless trucks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And while the threat to trucking is real, Uber Freight poses a more immediate risk to the thousands of mid-level, white-collar support staff jobs in the industry.
> 
> My first job out of a college was for one of the several third-party logistics (3PL) firms Uber will now compete with, and every day I worked there I sat around thinking (wishing!) some well-financed, technologically savvy company would come along and streamline the process and free me from the mindless drudgery of the job.
> 
> Here's how things operate in third-party logistics (also known as freight brokerage).
> 
> A team of account representatives speaks with "shippers" - companies looking to move goods from Points A to B - about what shipments (or "loads") they're looking to move that day, and then enter that information into their software system. Meanwhile, another team of account representatives speaks with "carriers" (trucking companies) about where in the U.S. they have empty trucks and enter _that_ data into the software, as well. Operations workers then match trucks to shipments and broker deals.
> 
> Say Anheuser-Busch needs to move cases of Budweiser from its plant in St. Louis to a warehouse in Chicago, for example. And say a truck empties a shipment in nearby St. Charles, Missouri, and wants to pick up a load for its ride back to Racine, Wisconsin. Anheuser-Busch would pay the 3PL to handle the shipment, and the 3PL would turn around and pay the truck to move the beer. (The 3PL makes money by paying the trucker less than Anheuser-Busch paid it.)
> 
> If this process seems wildly inefficient, it is! A 3PL is the definition of a middleman, and employs hundreds, if not thousands, of operations employees to input this data and brokers these deals every day.
> 
> Uber is uniquely positioned to streamline the industry, though. Much like the company's ride-hailing app cuts out the taxi dispatcher and allows people to hail rides directly from drivers, Uber Freight can create a platform where shippers and truckers broker shipping orders directly with one another, effectively rendering obsolete thousands of 3PL workers. It replaces people with software, and configures a labor-intensive industry into a SaaS business.
> 
> Uber has hired away several of my former colleagues to build its freight division, including the former chief business development officer and another employee who was being groomed for upper-level management, as well as about a dozen others from competing 3PL firms C.H. Robinson, Echo Logistics, AFN, Command and 4Front.
> 
> There's a chance these competitors will be able to withstand Uber's entry to the market. They have pre-existing relationships with many of the world's largest shippers, and reputations for moving loads reliably and cheaply. And many of them already host their software in the cloud so shippers and carriers can access it directly.
> 
> Uber, for its part, has billions in venture capital it can devote toward building a freight platform and a willingness to drive down prices in its relentless pursuit of market share. The domestic 3PL market is worth more than $150 billion by some estimates, so it's fair to assume Uber will approach things with its trademark aggressiveness.
> 
> Again, none of this means that trucking is safe. Uber acquired self-driving truck startup Otto in August 2016, and two months later Otto made its first automated delivery: 50,000 cans of Budweiser it delivered 120 miles from Fort Collins, Colorado, to Colorado Springs. That said, truck drivers' jobs are secure for the foreseeable future. Otto's trucks require a human driver be present and are only fully automated for highway driving. And it'll be years (decades?) before Otto passes regulatory hurdles. If cities are already wary of Uber's driverless cars program, they're even less likely to let a multi-ton 18-wheeler ride without a driver.
> 
> The more pressing threat is to the thousands of operations workers who make sure the trucks run on time. The loss of these jobs is inevitable-comparable to what's happened in the commodities trading industry, where high-frequency trading algorithms have replaced human brokers.
> 
> Many people who are not me enjoy working in third-party logistics. The job is relatively easy - anyone who's mildly competent and can handle the monotony of it can reasonably expect to earn a six-figure living after a few years of hard work. You don't need a specialized education (or even a college degree) to do the job well.
> 
> But much of the work is also mindless data entry, and it's easy to see why Uber sees an opportunity to do things more efficiently.
> 
> Many people have pointed out that automation, not China or Mexico, is the real threat to blue-collar American jobs. Overlooked, however, are all the non-executive white-collar administrative jobs that will also be rendered obsolete by technology.
> 
> Famed venture capitalist Marc Andreessen is fond of the phrase "software is eating the world," meaning that it's replacing many of the post-industrial, pre-internet jobs once thought to be essential. Problem is, one man's efficiency is another's unemployment.
> .


Teamsters
Will not like this.

Dont invest in insurance stocks !



htboston said:


> One rock thrown at their driving sensors will really mess up this autonomous-driving era, lol


water balloons of aluminum paint would be Much better !


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