Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/925196
18 | Overdrive | January 2018 Logbook The trial in a lawsuit between Silicon Valley companies Uber and Alphabet, Google's parent company, involving trade secrets and patents behind autonomous vehicle technology was delayed until Feb. 5. The U.S. Department of Justice also announced it is pursuing a criminal investigation against Uber over the accu- sations made against the company. U.S. District Judge William Alsup on Dec. 1 ordered the delay after the court determined that Uber failed to disclose evidence related to the lawsuit. The trial was set to begin Dec. 4 but was delayed after it was discovered that Uber allegedly hid letters, emails and settlement agree- ment documents from the court and law- yers for Waymo, the Alphabet subsidiary involved in the case. At the center of the case is engineer Anthony Levandowski, a longtime Waymo engineer who left last year to found Otto, which then billed itself as a small startup aiming to develop automated cars and a system to ret- rofit existing trucks with autonomous capabilities. Uber in August 2016 announced it was acquiring Otto for nearly $700 million. Waymo claims Uber secretly founded Otto and colluded with Levandowski to download 14,000 confidential documents from Waymo's systems. Uber denies the claims, arguing its self-driving tech- nologies are "fundamentally different" than Waymo's and that it stole only one schematic. Uber later shuttered Otto, bringing the self-driving division under the Uber brand name. The federal court overseeing the case issued an injunction against Uber in May, ordering it to turn over any files alleged- ly stolen from Waymo and discontinue using them in developing its self-driving technologies. – James Jaillet Autonomous driving tech trial delayed Otto, now part of Uber's self-driving tech division, completed two successful on-highway tests last year of its autonomous retrofit system. LOVE'S TRAVEL STOPS opened four 24/7 loca- tions, all with restaurants, with others offering tire service, laundry facilities and/or game rooms. Hope Hull, Alabama, off I-65 at Exit 158, has 85 truck parking spaces and eight showers; Brush, Colorado, off I-76 at Exit 89, has 100 truck parking spaces and five showers; Bushnell, Florida, off I-75 at Exit 314, has 99 truck parking spac- es and seven showers; and Bellville, Ohio, off I-71 at Exit 165, has 73 truck parking spaces and seven showers. EVEN FLO LOGIS- TICS and driver Shawn Roberts of Tumwater, Washington, were shut down following an August compliance investigation that revealed repeated safety violations. Roberts had been placed out of service during roadside inspections in multiple states and since January had been involved in four crashes while operating a truck and was cited for being on duty while under the influence. Roberts also posted a photo to social media in May of a 12-year- old operating a truck. KEY POWER DRIVING SCHOOL'S agreement with the Florida Depart- ment of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles was terminated after an investigation revealed the school conducted fraud- ulent commercial driver's license testing practices. Truckers tested in 2017 prior to the investigation were being notified that they must be retested. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin- istration last month informed the Truck Renting and Leasing Association that it plans to grant a 90-day extension from compliance with the federal electronic log- ging device mandate for short-term rental trucks, defined as 30 days or less. TRALA announced the agency had informed them about the compliance extension, though a notice had not been published in the Federal Register at press time. TRALA last March requested a more permanent exemption from ELD use for short-term rental trucks. In October, FMCSA granted a permanent exemp- tion for rental trucks used for eight days or less, rather than 30 days. Rental trucks are used by fleets most commonly during breakdowns and to add capacity during busy seasons. The additional three months gives rental truck suppliers until mid-March to prepare for the mandate for rentals between eight and 30 days. TRALA argued that the interoper- ability of the different ELD units on the market created a challenge for both carriers renting trucks and the companies supplying the rental units. The extra time will help rental companies "devise new methods and systems to adapt to the ELD rules," TRALA said. – Overdrive Staff Short-term rental trucks land ELD exemption