One of the qualities of successful stock trading and investing is observance. Sometimes you just need to wait and look around, and one of the things you need to watch out for is potential IPOs in the horizon. What are the companies that have indicated their IPOs will soon take place, and how attractive are they in terms of revenue?

Since Uber began revolutionizing transportation, it has seen good days and bad days. It has had its fair share of controversies, lawsuits and allegations, leading to the resignation of Travis Kalanick - one of the earliest incubators of Uber's ride sharing concept along with founder Garrett Camp - as CEO, and the appointment of Dara Khosrowshahi in his place.

Much Needed Investment into Uber

But Uber has put all that behind it as it prepares for its IPO in 2019. The controversies and allegations did result in lowering Uber's valuation from $70 billion to just $48 billion in its latest funding round, but there has been good news in terms of a group of Asian investors led by Japan's Softbank Group bidding successfully for 20% of the ride sharing company's stock. With this deal Softbank gets a 15% stake in Uber, with the other 5% received by the other Asian investors in the group. Now Uber gets an ally in the Asian markets. It's worth remembering that Uber has a value greater than Ford's ($F) market cap and close to Tesla ($TSLA).

Uber wants to include driverless cars in its lineup like Apple ($AAPL), Tesla ($TSLA) and Alphabet ($GOOG). It is looking to secure a permit in California for its self-driving service. Here too, there is a roadblock because of Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving division, suing Uber for technology theft.

Driverless Cars May Still Take Time for Uber, but Not Driverless Trucks

Uber has managed to set a milestone. As it plans for a future involving driverless cars, Uber has managed to run driverless trucks to haul cargo for its Uber Freight customers. Uber Freight is the company's app for commercial cargo delivery. The runs are being carried out in the highways of Arizona. The trucks operate as part of regular hauls where human drivers are also involved at the start and end points of the freight's journey.

The freight is first loaded on a human driven truck that travels to a transfer hub, from where it is further loaded to an autonomous long-haul truck which takes care of the longer trip duration through the highway. Once the highway transit is completed, it again hands the freight to a human-driven truck.

Reduced Driver Fatigue Increases Efficiency, Causing Faster Delivery

The big advantage of this system is that it reduces driver fatigue significantly. The long haul journeys are reserved for the autonomous trucks while the human drivers only need to negotiate the short haul journeys from the pickup point to the transfer hub, according to two videos released by Uber and included in TechCrunch.

The highway journey spanning cities and states is carried out by the driverless trucks, but they only connect from one transfer hub to another. Delivery to the exact destination - which won't be too far from the transfer hub, relatively speaking – is done by the conventional human driven trucks. This helps when there are vast distances spanning states to cover.

Uber Freight Makes Step in the Right Direction

The load sourcing is handled by Uber Freight, and connects the shoppers with the human truckers. Uber's Advanced Technology Group has deployed the self-driving trucks on Uber Freight's platform just as Uber's autonomous tech team deployed its autonomous ride share vehicles for testing using the company's ride-hailing network.

Driverless Trucks Have Really Built Interest Ahead of IPO

This move has certainly made the headlines and gives Uber the much needed positive vibes as it heads towards its IPO in 2019. It's worth watching how it fares as it goes public. Meanwhile, you can ensure you trade successfully by utilizing the advanced, free stock trading software provided by TradeZero. Communicate with us at +1 954-944-3885 or email support@tradezero.co.

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