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Investing.com -- Shares of Aurora Innovation Inc (NASDAQ:AUR) climbed 6.2% premarket as the company announced the successful launch of its commercial self-driving trucking service in Texas, marking a significant milestone in autonomous vehicle deployment on public roads. This week, Aurora began regular driverless customer deliveries between Dallas and Houston, having completed over 1,200 miles without a driver.
Aurora’s achievement positions it as the first company to operate a commercial driverless trucking service with heavy-duty trucks on public roads. The company’s CEO and co-founder, Chris Urmson, expressed pride in the milestone, highlighting the perfect performance of the Aurora Driver during its inaugural trip. According to Urmson, the successful launch is a testament to the company’s dedication to building transformative technology, earning trust, and assembling a strong ecosystem of customers and partners.
The company plans to expand its driverless service to include routes from El Paso, Texas to Phoenix, Arizona by the end of 2025. Aurora’s flagship product, the Aurora Driver, is an SAE L4 self-driving system initially deployed for long-haul trucking, aiming to address challenges such as an aging driver population, rising operating costs, and underutilized assets in the trillion-dollar U.S. trucking industry.
Aurora’s launch customers include Uber (NYSE:UBER) Freight, which has been collaborating with Aurora for over four years, and Hirschbach Motor Lines, a carrier specializing in time- and temperature-sensitive freight. Both companies have participated in long-standing supervised commercial pilots with Aurora. Lior Ron, Founder and CEO of Uber Freight, remarked on the historic step forward in logistics, while Richard Stocking, CEO of Hirschbach Motor Lines, noted the safety and efficiency benefits that autonomous trucks can deliver.
To ensure safety, Aurora closed its safety case prior to driverless operations, a process of assembling evidence to demonstrate that its product is safe for public roads. The company’s commitment to transparency and collaboration with officials and safety organizations has been a cornerstone of its approach to deploying the Aurora Driver. Entities briefed on the Aurora Driver’s readiness include the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and local law enforcement in Texas.
The Aurora Driver is equipped with advanced sensors and computing systems, capable of detecting obstacles and making safe driving decisions. Throughout four years of supervised pilot hauls, the system has delivered over 10,000 customer loads and demonstrated exceptional capabilities such as predicting traffic light behavior and avoiding collisions.
Aurora’s progress is also attributed to its partnerships with manufacturers to deploy self-driving trucks at scale, focusing on purpose-built driverless platforms designed for high-volume production. With Texas welcoming the technology and recognizing its potential for economic growth and roadway safety, Aurora’s driverless trucks are set to pave the way for a new era in the trucking industry.
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