Aurora Innovation will begin hauling cargo in driverless trucks for delivery giant McLane, the latest company to adopt the startup’s autonomous vehicle technology after a multi-year pilot program.
Under the commercial agreement announced Wednesday, trucks equipped with Aurora’s self-driving system will be used to transport freight between Dallas and Houston. These trucks will operate autonomously and will not have a human safety driver to take over. However, Aurora will still have what it describes as a “human observer” sitting in the cab – who does not operate the vehicle – under an agreement it has with truck maker Paccar.
Aurora said it plans to expand to new routes between McLane distribution centers across the US Sun Belt by the end of the year.
The companies started a pilot program in 2023 using autonomous trucks with a human safety operator. The pilot eventually expanded to two daily round-trips between Dallas and Houston.
McLane recently approved the move to driverless operations, which now operate seven days a week between the two Texas cities.
The companies are taking a novel approach to this route, using Aurora’s driverless technology for the long leg of the trip before handing it off to a McLane truck driver who makes local deliveries to customers such as fast-food restaurants. Aurora said this transfer takes place at the company’s Dallas and Houston terminals located just off the freeway.
The commercial contract is the latest win for Aurora as it tries to transition from a maker of autonomous trucks to a commercial operator that makes money on driverless routes. And it comes a year after the company launched commercial self-driving truck service in Texas. Aurora has since entered into a commercial sand hauling agreement for Detmar Logistics. Last month, Hirschbach Motor Lines agreed to purchase 500 Aurora-powered trucks. that deal, which is outlined in a memorandum of understanding, is expected to close later this year.
Today, the company operates driverless trucks — some with a human observer still in the cab — on routes between Dallas and Houston, Fort Worth and El Paso, El Paso and Phoenix, Fort Worth and Phoenix, and Laredo and Dallas.
Aurora reported first-quarter earnings on Wednesday after the market closed.
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