Aurora lands McLane deal to run driverless truck routes in Texas

Source: TechCrunch

Aurora lands McLane deal to run driverless truck routes in Texas

Aurora Innovation will start hauling loads in driverless trucks for distribution giant McLane, the latest company to adopt the startup’s autonomous vehicle technology following a multi‑year pilot program.

Commercial agreement

• Trucks equipped with Aurora’s self‑driving system will transport goods between Dallas and Houston.
• The vehicles will operate autonomously without a human safety driver. Aurora will, however, have a “human observer” seated in the cab who does not control the vehicle, per its agreement with truck manufacturer Paccar.
• The contract calls for expansion to additional routes between McLane distribution centers across the U.S. Sun Belt by the end of the year.

Pilot program background

• Launched in 2023, the pilot initially used autonomous trucks with a human safety operator.
• It later expanded to two round‑trips daily between Dallas and Houston.
• McLane has now approved full driverless operations, running seven days a week on this Texas corridor.

Operational model

• Aurora’s driverless technology handles the long‑haul segment of the trip.
• At Aurora’s Dallas and Houston terminals (located off the freeway), the truck is handed off to a McLane driver for local deliveries to customers such as fast‑food restaurants.

Aurora’s broader commercial progress

• The McLane contract is the latest win as Aurora shifts from developing autonomous trucks to operating commercial driverless routes.
• A year after launching its commercial self‑driving truck service in Texas, Aurora has also secured a deal to haul frac sand for Detmar Logistics.
• In a recent memorandum of understanding, Hirschbach Motor Lines agreed to purchase 500 Aurora‑powered trucks, with the transaction expected to close later this year.

Current driverless routes

Aurora currently runs driverless trucks—some still with a human observer—in the following corridors:

• Dallas ↔ Houston
• Fort Worth ↔ El Paso (see the related TechCrunch article here)
• El Paso ↔ Phoenix
• Fort Worth ↔ Phoenix
• Laredo ↔ Dallas

Upcoming earnings report

Aurora will report its first‑quarter earnings on Wednesday after the markets close.