Aurora Innovation announced it has successfully launched its commercial self-driving trucking service in Texas, with regular driverless hauls between Dallas and Houston.
The company says it is the first to deploy a self-driving Class 8 trucking service in the U.S. – without a safety driver – on public roads.
Aurora is now delivering live freight without anyone behind the wheel for launch customers Uber Freight and Hirschbach Motor Lines. Both companies have had long-standing supervised commercial pilots with Aurora.
Aurora plans to expand its driverless service to El Paso, Texas. and Phoenix, Arizona, by the end of 2025.
Chris Urmson, CEO and co-founder of Aurora, rode in the back seat for the inaugural driver-out trip, which he called “an honor of a lifetime. The Aurora Driver performed perfectly and it’s a moment I’ll never forget.” (continues)
What Does Level 4 Autonomous Mean?
Aurora’s flagship product, the Aurora Driver, is what’s classified by the Society of Automotive Engineers as a Level 4 self-driving system.
Level 4 is defined as “high driving automation” but is not yet the full driving automation of Level 5. The biggest difference between those two levels is that Level 4 automation is not able to operate under all driving conditions.
But unlike Level 3, which requires a human driver to take over in some situations, Level 4 does not require a driver as a backup.
About Aurora’s Launch Customers
“When Uber Freight and Aurora came together more than four years ago, we set out to transform the future of logistics — and today, that future is here,” said Lior Ron, founder and CEO of Uber Freight.
“Moving autonomous commercial freight without anyone behind the wheel is a historic step forward in our mission to build a smarter and more efficient supply chain, and one we’re proud to lead alongside Aurora.”
Uber Freight also works with other autonomous-vehicle companies, and said its autonomous vehicle (AV) carriers altogether have logged more than 500,000 autonomous miles on public roads hauling freight, moving freight for more than 20 shippers.
Richard Stocking, CEO of Hirschbach Motor Lines, one of Aurora’s launch partners: “Transforming an old school industry like trucking is never easy, but we can’t ignore the safety and efficiency benefits this technology can deliver.”
“Aurora’s transparent, safety-focused approach to delivering autonomous technology has always given me confidence they’re doing this the right way,” said Richard Stocking, CEO of Hirschbach Motor Lines.
“Transforming an old school industry like trucking is never easy, but we can’t ignore the safety and efficiency benefits this technology can deliver. Autonomous trucks aren’t just going to help grow our business — they’re also going to give our drivers better lives by handling the lengthier and less desirable routes.”
Safely Deploying the Aurora Driver
The Aurora Driver is equipped with a powerful computer and sensors that can see beyond the length of four football fields, enabling it to safely operate on the highway.
In more than four years of supervised pilot hauls, the Aurora Driver has delivered over 10,000 customer loads across 3 million autonomous miles. During that testing, it has been able to predict red-light runners, avoid collisions, and detect pedestrians in the dark hundreds of meters away.
No hands! In fact, no driver, as Aurora Innovation launches commercial driver-out autonomous trucking on public Texas highways.
Aurora’s Verifiable AI approach to autonomy blends powerful learning models with guardrails to help ensure the rules of the road are followed, such as yielding for emergency vehicles.
Verifiable AI also played a critical role in enabling Aurora to close its driverless safety case, as it enables the company to examine and validate the Aurora Driver’s decision-making.
Aurora’s launch trucks are equipped with the Aurora Driver hardware kit and numerous redundant systems, including braking, steering, power, sensing, controls, computing, cooling, and communication, enabling them to safely operate without a human driver.
The truck platform was validated and approved by Aurora for driverless operations on public roads. Aurora believes working with manufacturing partners is the only way to deploy self-driving trucks at scale and continues to make progress with its partners on purpose-built driverless platforms designed for high-volume production.
Ensuring Safe Autonomous Trucking
Prior to driverless operations, Aurora closed its safety case, which is how the company assembled evidence to show its product is acceptably safe for public roads.
Aurora’s Safety Case Framework captures different elements that are critical for evaluating the safe development, testing, and operation of a self-driving vehicle on public roads. The company believes that safety cases are an essential tool for any company deploying autonomous vehicle technology, as they promote transparency and build trust with regulators and the public.
The company also released a Driverless Safety Report, which includes details about the Aurora Driver’s operating domain for initial operations along with Aurora’s approach to cybersecurity, remote assistance, and more safety-critical topics.
Aurora prioritizes transparency and collaboration with elected officials, government agencies, and safety organizations. The company said it briefed agencies such as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Transportation Safety board, and Texas transportation and safety agencies as well as local law enforcement in Texas on the Aurora Driver’s readiness for driverless operations.
Most U.S. states today allow for driverless vehicles, including Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a Teamsters-backed bill that would have effectively banned autonomous trucks in the state, but the union has been lobbying for bills banning self-driving trucks in other states, including Nevada, New York State, and Washington State.
Reaction in Texas to Aurora’s Driverless Truck Operations
Texas has become a major hub of autonomous-truck development. In addition to Aurora, other autonomous-truck companies that have been testing or operating in the Lone Star State include Kodiak Robotics, Plus, Torc, Volvo Autonomous Solutions, and Waabi.
Earlier this year, Kodiak announced its driverless trucks were operating in the Permian basin, but those were not on public roads.
The co-founder and former CEO of autonomous-truck company TuSimple is back with a new company, Bot Auto, based in Houston, Texas.
“Texas continues to attract emerging industries because we offer an environment that welcomes entrepreneurs and encourages innovation,” said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in commenting on Aurora’s commercial launch.
“These new, autonomous semis on the I-45 corridor will efficiently move products, create jobs, and help make our roadways safer,” he added.
The Texas Trucking Association issued a release congratulating Aurora on the commercial launch of their self-driving Class 8 trucks.
TXTA has worked closely with Aurora to help ensure their technology benefits the logistics industry and American economy.
“From my first ride in an Aurora autonomous truck, I knew this company would change the world — and the way the freight industry looks at safety,” said TXTA President and CEO John D. Esparza.
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