Autonomous trucks roll in Texas as Aurora and Uber test hauling goods during holiday peak season
Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) and Uber Freight (NYSE:UBER) announced the expansion of their autonomous pilot with a new commercial lane between Fort Worth and El Paso.
The two autonomous transportation specialists said a 600-mile lane across Texas launched in October and is supporting Uber Freight customers as they prepare for the 2022 holiday season.
Looking ahead, Aurora and Uber Freight aim to unlock autonomous truck capacity for carriers with Aurora Horizon, which will be deployed in the coming years and serve carriers across the Uber Freight platform.
"Weâre crafting Aurora Horizon to help carriers of all sizes alleviate some of the supply chain pressures that typically accompany them,â said Aurora Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson. "Deploying our technology with the Uber Freight team over this 600-mile trip at the peak of the season is an outgrowth of our mutual commitment to ensure that Aurora Horizon can enable carriers of all sizes to safely and efficiently haul freight 24/7/365 on the Uber Freight network," he added.
Packaging solutions company Veritiv Corp. (NYSE:VRTV) is an early customer of Uber Freight and has used Aurora Horizon to autonomously transport goods on time to retail, education, and healthcare customers. The packages, which are hauled over 600 miles between Auroraâs terminals in Fort Worth and El Paso, complete their journey via human drivers who handle the first and final leg of customer deliveries across western Texas and New Mexico.
Aurora (AUR) is also testing autonomous trucks right now in Texas with FedEx (FDX), Schneider National (SNDR), and Werner Enterprises (WERN) as vehicle operators. The autonomous vehicle company expects to pull the driver and launch its trucking service, Aurora Horizon, in late 2024.
Sector watch: Tesla (TSLA) delivered its first electric truck to PepsiCo on December 1 but was light on details about an autonomous program at a launch event. Wells Fargo said the reveal was impressive though some details remain including the payload (battery may add weight), the available cargo space (battery may take up room), the vehicle charge time, and battery specs.