Aurora Innovation is set to begin transporting goods using driverless trucks for McLane, a major distribution company, following a successful multi-year pilot program with the startup’s autonomous vehicle technology.
According to Wednesday’s commercial agreement, trucks equipped with Aurora’s self-driving technology will transport goods between Dallas and Houston. These trucks will operate without a human safety driver, but Aurora will include a “human observer” who will not drive the vehicle, as agreed with truck maker Paccar.
Aurora aims to expand its services to new routes connecting McLane distribution centers across the U.S. Sun Belt by the year’s end.
Initially, the companies started a 2023 pilot with autonomous trucks and a safety operator, eventually increasing operations to twice-daily round-trips between Dallas and Houston.
McLane has now approved moving to fully driverless operations, which will operate seven days a week between the two Texas cities.
This route utilizes Aurora’s technology for the long-haul segment, followed by a handoff to a McLane driver for local deliveries to clients such as fast food restaurants. The changeover takes place at terminals in Dallas and Houston near the freeway.
This commercial agreement is another success for Aurora as it shifts from solely developing autonomous trucks to becoming a profitable commercial operator with driverless routes. The announcement follows the launch of its commercial self-driving truck service in Texas last year. Since then, Aurora has also secured a deal to transport frac sand for Detmar Logistics, and last month, an agreement with Hirschbach Motor Lines to purchase 500 Aurora-powered trucks is expected to close later this year.
Currently, Aurora operates driverless trucks, some with a human observer, on routes between Dallas and Houston, Fort Worth and El Paso, El Paso and Phoenix, Fort Worth and Phoenix, and Laredo and Dallas.
Aurora is set to report its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday after the markets close.