McLeod Software and Aurora Innovation have completed an API integration that allows carriers to book and manage driverless truck capacity directly within McLeod’s transportation management system.
According to the two companies, the integration embeds Aurora’s autonomous trucking service, powered by the Aurora Driver, into McLeod’s core workflow. This advance eliminates the need for separate portals or standalone tools.
For eligible McLeod customers running version 21.1 or newer, autonomous capacity can now be tendered, tracked, and managed alongside conventional truckload operations.
Smoother Autonomous Operations
According to McLeod, the move reflects a broader shift in how autonomous trucking technology is being commercialized. Autonomous operations are becoming less of a futuristic add-on and more of a capacity option fleets can deploy using the same tools they already rely on, the company said.
“In a market that demands constant innovation, we are proud to be the first TMS to put the power of autonomous trucking directly into the hands of our customers,” said Tom McLeod, founder and CEO of McLeod Software. He noted that the project was delivered ahead of schedule due to strong customer interest in accessing driverless truck capacity.
For Aurora, the integration is about removing friction at the operational level, the company said.
“We’ve turned driverless trucking technology into a practical, everyday service,” said Ossa Fisher, president of Aurora. “By embedding the Aurora Driver directly into the McLeod ecosystem, we are enabling carriers to easily adopt driverless trucks and immediately start optimizing their networks.”
From a fleet perspective, the key value proposition is simplicity, the companies said.
Dispatchers can tender autonomous loads from the same TMS screen they use for human-driven freight.
Once tendered, the Aurora Driver provides real-time location visibility, automated status updates, and delivery confirmation—mirroring the expectations fleets and shippers already have for conventional operations.
Minimizing Operational Disruptions
Russell Transport, an early adopter and longtime McLeod customer, is already using the integration to tender autonomous loads.
“The ability to tender autonomous loads through our existing McLeod dashboard has been a meaningful operational improvement,” said Rami Abdeljaber, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Russell Transport. “We are seeing efficiency gains without disrupting our operations. The integration is seamless, real-time, and operationally effective.”
That emphasis on minimizing disruption is critical, according to Abdeljaber. Many fleets remain cautious about autonomous trucks, not because of the technology itself, but because of the operational complexity involved in adopting it.
By keeping autonomous capacity inside established systems of record, McLeod and Aurora are addressing one of the industry’s biggest barriers to adoption.
The integration also underscores a larger trend in autonomous trucking. The success of this emerging technology increasingly depends on how well the technology fits into existing freight networks, not just how well it performs on the road.
Autonomous trucks still represent a small share of overall capacity, but tools like this are designed to make that capacity easier to deploy where it makes sense—particularly on repeatable lanes.
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