| Thanks for reading Hyperdrive, Bloomberg’s newsletter on the future of the auto world. China’s Autonomous Trucking Pursuit | After almost 10 hours driving a 31-ton rig filled with courier parcels, YTO Express Group driver Fu Tingfeng showed no signs of exhaustion. In fact, he was cracking jokes to me when I joined him just outside of Shanghai to tag along for the last leg of his roughly 800-kilometer (500 mile) journey between Wuhan and China’s financial hub. The reason: the advanced driver-assistance system produced by Chinese startup Inceptio Technology, which did most of the driving for Fu.  Fu Tingfeng using Inceptio’s advanced driver-assistance system. Photographer: Stephen Engle/Bloomberg Driver-assistance technology, and the safety ramifications of some drivers not paying full attention, are facing heightened scrutiny in China since a fatal crash in late March involving a Xiaomi SU7 electric vehicle that had its autopilot system turned on. Inceptio argues that not only does its technology save on fuel and labor costs — the Wuhan-Shanghai route that Fu drives on his own used to require two drivers — it also improves safety. When the system is engaged, Fu doesn’t need to keep his foot on the pedals, with the truck handling acceleration and braking, as well as managing lane changes and driving at a safe distance from other vehicles. He pointed out cameras in the truck’s cab and sensors on the steering wheel that can detect whether he’s falling asleep or taking his hands off the wheel for too long. Beeping noises, a vibrating car seat and tightening of the seatbelt are all designed to rouse his attention, and he is required by law to supervise the vehicle at all times. Inceptio has logged more than 215 million accident-free operational kilometers. “This is game-changing technology,” Fu said. “I had my doubts when I first used this system, as is the usual with new things. But now it makes my job so easy.” While safety is front of mind, the cost-saving potential is a major draw for many customers. Wei Cheng, fleet manager for the Shanghai region at YTO Express, said labor costs under a new business model using the technology would reduce by a third, and the intelligent rigs have cut fuel use by about 1 liter for every 100 kilometers. The logistics firm first ordered 300 trucks with Inceptio's system last year and plans to add another 400 this year, totaling about 10% of the fleet, he said. Inceptio CEO Julian Ma said it takes between 11 months and two years for the cost savings generated by his technology to pay for itself. “This is a very healthy return that’s based on the saving of driver cost, the saving of the hiring and retention cost, the saving of the driver-management cost, and the saving of the fuel,” he said. Insurance premiums can also drop by 30%, he said.  Inceptio CEO Julian Ma. Photographer: Lionel Ng/Bloomberg That’s helped the company quietly come to dominate in China. Inceptio’s technology is already used by most of the country’s biggest logistics companies, including YTO Express and SF Express, plus international firms like AB InBev’s Budweiser and Nestle. In total, more than 2,000 trucks, including 200 that Inceptio itself operates, have deployed with the driving system. China and the US are the global leaders in autonomous-driving tech. But for road freight, driverless trucks have just started operating regularly on US highways for the first time this year. While Inceptio covers 85% of China’s highways, it’s been operating with human drivers present as required by Chinese law. While critics of artificial intelligence have raised concerns about humans losing their jobs to robots, autonomous-driving technology could help alleviate the logistics industry’s shortage of workers. In China, it can take years to obtain the license required to drive tractor units, and the sector is notorious for long hours and inflexible work schedules that take a major physical toll on drivers.  One of Inceptio’s trucks. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg Fu, who is 46, said he used to think about leaving trucking when he hits 50 to work in a job like security, even though his earnings would suffer. “But with this technology, I think I can do this until I’m 60,” he said. As for Inceptio’s future, its CEO Ma is eyeing two tracks. One will focus on the deployment of so-called L2+ driving technology that increasingly is being commercialized. The other will look to achieve L4 — where vehicles can self-drive within limited conditions — using the data collected from the real-world deployment of its L2+ technology. When asked about Inceptio’s plans for an initial public offering in the US, which Bloomberg News has reported could see the company aim to raise $100 million to $200 million as soon as this year, Ma declined to comment. But the company has global ambitions. It’s exploring partnerships with manufacturers and markets outside of China, including Europe, Japan and Latin America. — By Linda Lew  Brian Pannebecker, a retired Chrysler worker who started the Facebook group Autoworkers for Trump, speaking at the president’s tariff announcement at the White House on April 2. Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg Some auto workers are all-in on President Donald Trump’s trade war — and don’t mind if it causes some short-term pain for Wall Street and Main Street. James Benson Jr. has assembled cars and trucks for Ford for 26 years. In that time, he’s worked at eight different plants. Three closed, he said, and others saw cutbacks as the automaker lost market share to imports. Dislocation at car companies has only gotten worse in recent weeks as Trump’s tariffs have prompted temporary layoffs and a pullback in stock buybacks and capital spending. But as Benson sees it, Trump’s tariffs are the US’s best chance to reverse a long-running factory drain. “I was a devout Democrat my whole life and got nothing out of it,” Benson said in an interview. “Nobody has done anything to stop the decline until now.” - Read More: The battle over the fate of Detroit’s Renaissance Center.
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