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A group of Chinese startups is accelerating efforts to get autonomous vehicles onto roads in the world’s biggest auto market, a country its American peers from Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo to General Motors Co.’s Cruise may find tough to crack.

Capacity shortfalls combined with increased demand for truckload shipments are continuing to boost spot rates to record levels, according to DAT Solutions, which also said in what is an atypical trend, spot rates now are exceeding long-term contract rates.

The day after Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc.’s midyear sale, a company drone took off from a playground in the city of Xi’an to deliver one of the orders in a football-sized box to a village in the mountains to the south.

In a bid to achieve the practical use of self-driving flying cars in the 2020s, the government will establish a public-private council possibly within this year to discuss safety issues, technological development and other matters, Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

NEW YORK — Waiting is so yesterday. Shoppers increasingly want their orders to arrive at their doorsteps as soon as they click a button, whether it’s a hot meal, groceries or a sofa. In response, retailers are betting big on delivery services to drop off packages faster.

It’s not just hands-free driving that self-guided cars may bring into reality. Autonomous vehicles could unleash new technological and economic development on a level not seen since the dawn of the space age.

Amazon.com’s ever-expanding retail empire is going to need more workers and vehicles to get millions of packages to shoppers’ doors. To do so, the web retailer is encouraging people to start their own delivery businesses.

Mapping company Rand McNally published the 2019 Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas with updates and enhancements on truck-specific routes, weigh station locations, toll systems and more.

The idea of TruKKer was born at a dinner table when Gaurav Biswas realized how hard it was to find a suitable truck at the right time at a reasonable cost. He was quick to spot a lucrative gap in the market, and the region’s first and fastest growing truck aggregator was born.