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akmalhot OP t1_j9ynk0l wrote

The failed to raise additional funding in this environment , so laid off pretty much everyone but core engineering

They have multiple multi - year contracts in place with some of the largest carriers, if they can ever get over the finish line.

We are not shutting down,” company co-founder and CEO Çetin Meriçli told FreightWaves in an email late Friday. “We did reduce most of our non-engineering headcount in the face of economic headwinds.

“Unfortunately, we had an employee give an unauthorized and inaccurate quote, and despite providing further information, the original story ran anyway.”

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CARLEtheCamry t1_j9zjafv wrote

> Locomation failed to raise additional investment capital, leading to the layoffs

Another startup not profitable enough to cover their own payroll. 90% fail. working for one is like playing the lottery with your career.

Maybe they're hoping someone will buy them up.

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akmalhot OP t1_ja12qp2 wrote

Eh, their tech is pretty solid, and they have orders. They are pre revenue

The dynamic of raising money changed drastically..

They absolutely are hoping to be bought and have had interest.

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AbbeHuet t1_ja1iim9 wrote

If I recall correctly, one the earlier reports had a quote saying something like "Meriçli declined to respond to requests for comments" or something like this. Makes the complaining here a bit less credible in my view. As does the following quote:

> It’s unknown how many of Locomation’s estimated 122 employees faced termination. Mericli declined to provide specifics.

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mactaggart t1_j9zuxkm wrote

“Journalism is dead” or “Whoops one of our people talked to you and then asked for a do-over once it ran”

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APizzaWithEverything t1_ja0tshl wrote

Because anyone with any shred of intelligence can tell you that autonomous semi trucks will never happen, there are too many variables that a computer will never be able to solve, this company, Waymo, Embark, and all the other ones are the same thing: they are a company trying to scam money out of “investors”

A computer will never be able to hook the air lines, check if there is a gap between the apron and fifth wheel, raise or lower landing gear legs, fill itself up with fuel, etc

Hell, Embark, the company that guaranteed they were gonna remove drivers from the cab within 5 years, has seen their stock drop 95% in the last year, and it continues to drop

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CounterSensitive776 t1_ja2y29k wrote

I agree, look at what happened with Argo after the billions that were injected. Self driving is a meme.

Also, the whole idea of "platooning" sounds dangerous.

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CARLEtheCamry t1_ja7vj5m wrote

The company seems to be focused on platooning, which I personally think is the logical evolution of "almost self driving".

> A computer will never be able to hook the air lines, check if there is a gap between the apron and fifth wheel, raise or lower landing gear legs, fill itself up with fuel, etc

They'll just have the one driver do it for 3 trucks. That's why it makes sense, still having a person on-hand and just doing more work.

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APizzaWithEverything t1_ja7yyqs wrote

Platooning works on paper only, it is impossible to implement in the real world, you still need someone in the cab to take over if unforeseen circumstances occur, this is the same reason airplanes still have pilots, even though planes have been able to fly themselves for decades now

Not to mention, in order for self driving trucks to ever happen, EVERYTHING would have to be overhauled, docks, roads, everything, and most companies aren’t gonna overhaul their receiving areas to the tune of probably millions of dollars to make these things work.

The absolute best they will ever be able to do is MAYBE like a sort of advanced cruise control on the highway, they can’t even make GPS that works 100% of the time, some of the places I go my GPS doesn’t even acknowledge that the road I’m on even exists, and a lot of roads a GPS will tell the truck to go down can absolutely not have a truck there

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