Autonomous freight trucks are slated to hit the Dallas highways this month. The self-driving heavy-duty semi-trucks running on technology formulated by Aurora, a Pittsburgh-based self-driving vehicle tech company, will roll back and forth along the Interstate 45 corridor connecting Dallas and Houston. This busy stretch of freeway will be the launch site for Aurora’s fleet of self-driving trucks, with an additional route between Fort Worth and El Paso, already planned.
“Opening a driverless trucking lane flanked by commercially-ready terminals is an industry-first that unlocks our ability to launch our driverless trucking product,” said Sterling Anderson, co-founder and chief product officer of Aurora in a 2023 press release announcing local Aurora terminals were ready for driverless operations. “With this corridor’s launch, we’ve defined, refined, and validated the framework for the expansion of our network with the largest partner ecosystem in the autonomous trucking industry.”
In a March shareholder letter, Aurora outlined its progressive plan for trucks on the highway, calling it a “crawl, walk, run approach.”
“During launch, we expect to deploy up to 10 driverless trucks in commercial operations, starting with one driverless truck and then transitioning the balance to driverless operation,” reads the letter.
According to a report from the National Transportation Research Group, Texas moved more freight than any other state in 2022, about 3.4 billion tons valued at $3.1 trillion. More than half of all truck freight that moves through Texas takes the strip of I-45 that Aurora’s trucks will navigate.
Aurora is partnered with several vehicle manufacturers, including the Denton-based Peterbilt, installing their software and hardware on pre-built trucks, enabling self-driving features. The tech company is also partnered with freight companies like FedEx and Uber Freight. Aurora's self-driving tech, named Aurora Driver, includes a mix of radar, light detection and a series of cameras, removing the need for human intervention.
"We are on the cusp of a new era in transportation,” reads a press release from Aurora’s head of government relations, Gerardo Interiano. “Autonomous vehicles are no longer just a concept — they are being deployed in trucking, passenger mobility, agriculture, and mining, paving the way for a safer, more efficient future. Aurora’s plans to deploy self-driving trucks onto public roads in Texas will bring the benefits of autonomy directly to our supply chain and economy.”
Self-driving safety concerns
Autonomous vehicle technology of various kinds has become more prevalent in the last decade, starting with self-parking cars in the mid-2010s. The technology advanced quickly, and soon, cars were using lane monitoring systems in conjunction with cruise control and emergency braking sensors to create an auto-pilot experience. Commercial vehicles, for the most part, required manual supervision. In 2022, Waymo, a rideshare service with fully autonomous vehicles built without pedals or a steering wheel, engineered solely to transport passengers, was launched in the Southwest.More recently, Cruise, a General Motors robo-taxi service, halted its plans to operate in Texas after the self-driving cars contributed to a large number of accidents and traffic frustrations in Austin, where it was operating more heavily, as opposed to the mere testing procedures in Dallas and Houston. Although some members of the Dallas City Council remain skeptical of self-driving taxis, cities can not regulate autonomous vehicle services in Texas. After restarting some testing operations in Dallas in 2024, General Motors announced the end of the Cruise program in all markets in December.
Heavy machinery without an operator stirs safety concerns. Tesla, a pioneer in the world of self-driving technology, has a history of causing accidents, over a dozen of them fatal, according to an investigation by the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration. The technology involved in Tesla's autopilot features and the tech deployed by Aurora is vastly different, however, as Aurora trucks are fully autonomous, as opposed to Tesla vehicles that require an operator behind the wheel.
In December of 2023, the Frisco Police Department partnered with Aurora to conduct roleplay emergency situations, testing the self-driving truck’s ability to yield to first responders. In the event one of the trucks breaks down, which Aurora admits is inevitable, a remote assistant specialist from the command center will be able to intervene and suggest a path for the truck, although they can not control trucks via remote.
“We can learn how to deal with autonomous vehicles," Grant Cottingham, the public information officer for the Frisco Police Department, told CBS News. "How they're going to react so that we can react appropriately and so that way they can collect the data to ensure that their vehicles on the road are as safe as they possibly can be."
A 2024 study on fully self-driving cars provides an optimistic safety outlook for this realm of vehicles. The study by two engineering researchers at the University of Central Florida found that self-driving cars are generally safer than those piloted by humans. Using more than 2,100 accident reports involving self-drive technology, they determined that self-driving cars are five times more likely to crash in low light conditions and twice as likely to crash while turning.
“Our efforts build toward a shared vision for a safer transportation ecosystem and, in this moment, I have never been more confident in the promise of self-driving technology,” said Urmson, Aurora’s CEO in the safety report. “Commercial launch will be a big milestone, and it is only the beginning for Aurora—our commitment to safety must be ubiquitous as we refine our product and expand to new frontiers.”
Safety concerns head to court
On any given road trip, you'll encounter a fair number of trailer trucks pulled into the shoulder lane with small reflective warning devices on the ground around them, one at 10 feet and two at 100 feet away. Per requirements set by the United States Department of Transportation, truckers must place these small hazard indicators around their vehicle. For a truck with no driver, placing flags around the perimeter of a stalled hauler is impossible, so Aurora asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for an exemption in 2022. After two years of silent review, the request was denied in December of 2024.
Safety concerns head to court
Aurora soon filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, arguing that their existing safety protocol was enough and that FMCSA's denial was "unreasonable." The trucks are brandished with an emergency lighting system, similar to the orange flashing lights found on construction vehicles.
“FMCSA’s decision stifles safety innovation and would impede the development of the autonomous trucking industry for no valid or lawful reason,” Aurora wrote when it filed the lawsuit.
Aurora's arguments will be heard in court on April 9, and final briefs are due June 20. The lawsuit will not prevent Aurora's Texas launch, but the company has said it will comply with regulations without specifically outlining a plan for how, as reported by Axios.
"We live in the greatest country in the world, and it is my firm belief that the revolution in automotive safety technology that has taken place since the current roadside warning system was put in place in 1972 should be reflected in today’s trucking regulations," said Aurora's president, Ossa Fisher, in a January company blog post.
The existing trucker shortage
The country largely depends on long-haul trucking across state lines for the transport of goods. But the job is hard, with long monotonous workdays upwards of 10 hours or more. The turnover rate is high, with the American Trucking Association (ATA) estimating 90% of new truckers will quit within their first year. The ATA estimated a shortage of about 60,000 long-haul truckers in 2024."The driver shortage has been a persistent issue in our industry for many years," Bob Costello, chief economist of the ATA, said to NPR. "We have numerous examples of fleets of all sizes raising pay, increasing bonuses and increasing benefits, like time at home, in response to the shortage."
Aurora’s driverless trucks could help increase the size of long-haul fleets at a lower cost than with traditional trucks. According to the company’s 2024 investor deck, trucking costs for Aurora are $0.17 less expensive per mile than the national average, with no effect on revenue.
