Pittsburgh-based Aurora Innovation, Inc. recently announced it has launched its second-generation driverless trucks.
Aurora sid it plans to deploy the new fleet across its commercial network, which currently encompasses 10 driverless routes throughout the U.S. Sun Belt, to serve additional customers.
As of the end of June, the Aurora Driver has completed nearly 440,000 driverless miles. The company’s route expansion is also driving significant commercial momentum, underscored by a customer’s recent plan to purchase 500 Aurora Driver-powered trucks.
“Last year’s driverless launch proved our technology could operate safely on public roads – our new platform now provides the foundation to deliver at scale,” said Chris Urmson, CEO and co-founder of Aurora. “Deploying our second-generation truck allows us to put hundreds of autonomous trucks on the road and ultimately into the hands of more customers.”
The new fleet, based on the International LT Series vehicle, is also powered by Aurora’s next-generation hardware. The company said this hardware is more powerful and built to last one million miles.
Roush, a product development supplier, is installing redundant systems and integrating Aurora’s next-generation hardware into the new trucks at a production facility dedicated to Aurora. The companies have also formalized an upfit process, positioning Roush to reach an annual production run-rate of 1,000 Aurora trucks later this year.
Schneider honored for reefer shipping
Schneider National, Inc., a multimodal provider of transportation, intermodal and logistics services, recently obtained the Certified Cold Carrier designation from the Global Cold Chain Alliance.
The Certified Cold Carrier program provides independent, third-party assurance that asset-based carriers are aligned with industry-prescribed best practices for the safe and sanitary transport of food perishables.
“Refrigerated shipping is vital to a resilient cold-supply chain, and we take our role in that seriously, leveraging a collaborative team of refrigerated experts and innovative tools to deliver for our customers and consumers,” said Schneider Senior Vice President and General Manager of Van Truckload Erin Van Zeeland.
ATA praises staged accident bill
The American Trucking Associations recently praised Senator Ashley Moody (R-FL) for introducing the Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act, a bill that would make it a federal crime to engineer a crash with a commercial motor vehicle.
The association said in a statement, “This dangerous and increasingly pervasive criminal scheme deliberately puts innocent motorists at risk, all to manipulate the legal system and extract fraudulent seven-figure settlements from reputable trucking companies.”
The Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act would provide a strong, necessary deterrent to prevent these dangerous and costly schemes from taking root, while offering critical protections to the motor carriers and drivers who tirelessly power our nation’s economy and supply chain, ATA said. The bill establishes criminal penalties not just for the drivers who stage these collisions—but also for the attorneys, physicians, and other co-conspirators who knowingly participate in the fraud to extort victimized motor carriers.
Companion legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives last year by Congressmen Mike Collins (R-GA) and Brandon Gill (R-TX).
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