Aurora gets McLane deal to operate self-driving truck routes in Texas

Aurora Innovation will begin hauling loads in self-driving trucks for distribution giant McLane, the latest company to adopt the startup’s self-driving vehicle technology after a multi-year pilot program.

Under the commercial agreement announced Wednesday, trucks equipped with Aurora’s autonomous driving system will be used to transport freight between Dallas and Houston. These trucks will operate autonomously and will not have a human safety driver on board who can take over the task. However, Aurora will still have what it describes as a “human observer” sitting in the cab — who does not operate the vehicle — under an agreement it has with truck manufacturer Paccar.

Aurora said it plans to expand to new routes between McLane distribution centers across the U.S. Sun Belt region by the end of the year.

The companies launched a pilot program in 2023 using self-driving trucks with a human safety operator. The pilot eventually expanded to two daily round trips between Dallas and Houston.

McLean recently agreed to move to driverless operations, which now operate seven days a week between the two Texas cities.

The companies are taking a new approach to this route, using Aurora’s driverless technology for the long portion of the trip before handing it over to a McLane truck driver who delivers local orders to customers such as fast food restaurants. Aurora said this delivery process takes place at the company’s Dallas and Houston stations located directly off the interstate.

The commercial contract is the latest win for Aurora as it tries to transition from a developer of self-driving trucks to a commercial operator that makes money on its self-driving roads. This comes a year after the company launched its self-driving commercial truck service in Texas. Since then, Aurora has secured a commercial agreement to transport crushing sand for Detmar Logistics. Last month, Hirschbach Motor Lines agreed to purchase 500 Aurora-powered trucks. This agreement, outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding, is expected to close later this year.

Today, the company operates driverless trucks — some with a human spotter in the cab — on routes between Dallas and Houston. Fort Worth and El PasoEl Paso and Phoenix, Fort Worth and Phoenix, and Laredo and Dallas.

Aurora reports first-quarter earnings on Wednesday after markets close.