Uber Freight expands to multiple new markets and adds new features

Uber Freight, the on-demand trucking service created by Uber and introduced earlier this year, is expanding from its initial market of Texas to areas in California, Arizona, Chicago, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Uber has also updated the app with new features that personalize the driver app with custom settings and recommendations based on their use.

The Uber Freight app will now recommend available loads for drivers based on their past job history and preferred routes, and it’ll also surface local hauls that are nearby for convenience.

Uber’s Freight app and service originally debuted in May, with the aim of making it easier for independent drivers and small firms to locate and book available freight transport jobs. The other advantage Uber touted at the time was timely payouts, with deposits for jobs made within “a few days,” without any additional fees levied.

This arm of Uber’s business is separate from its ambitions in terms of autonomous trucking, but you could see how having a fleet of human drivers using their app and logging data about hauls and routes could contribute to those efforts.