Aurora Innovation Launches Driverless Truck Operations for McLane on Dallas-Houston Route

Aurora Innovation will start hauling loads in driverless trucks for distribution giant McLane under a commercial agreement announced on Wednesday. Trucks outfitted with Aurora’s self-driving system will transport goods between Dallas and Houston. These trucks will operate autonomously and will not have a human safety driver on board.

Aurora will have a “human observer” sitting in the cab who does not operate the vehicle per an agreement with truck manufacturer Paccar. U.S. Sun Belt by the end of 2026.

The companies launched a pilot program in 2023 using autonomous trucks with a human safety operator. The pilot eventually expanded to two round-trips daily between Dallas and Houston. McLane recently approved moving to driverless operations, which now run seven days a week between the two Texas cities.

The companies are using Aurora’s driverless tech for the long-haul portion of the trip before handing it over to a McLane truck driver who makes local deliveries. The handoff occurs at Aurora’s Dallas and Houston terminals located right off the freeway. The commercial contract comes a year after Aurora launched its commercial self-driving truck service in Texas.

Since then, Aurora has landed a commercial agreement to haul frac sand for Detmar Logistics. Last month, Hirschbach Motor Lines agreed to buy 500 Aurora-powered trucks in a memorandum of understanding expected to close later this year. Aurora currently operates driverless trucks on routes between Dallas and Houston, Fort Worth and El Paso, El Paso and Phoenix, Fort Worth and Phoenix, and Laredo and Dallas.

Some of those operations still include a human observer in the cab. TechCrunch reported that the shift marks the latest win for Aurora as it transitions from a developer of autonomous trucks to a commercial operator earning money on its driverless routes. Aurora reports its first-quarter earnings Wednesday after the markets close.