Aurora secures McLane partnership for autonomous truck operations in Texas

Aurora Innovation will begin hauling commercial freight in driverless trucks for distribution giant McLane, marking the latest major partnership for the autonomous trucking startup following several years of pilot testing.

Under the commercial agreement announced Wednesday, trucks equipped with Aurora’s autonomous driving technology will transport goods between Dallas and Houston. The trucks will operate autonomously, without a human safety driver who can take over control of the vehicle. However, Aurora said the trucks will still include what it describes as a “human observer” sitting inside the cab. According to the company, this observer does not operate the vehicle and is present under an agreement Aurora has with truck manufacturer Paccar.

Aurora stated that it plans to expand operations to additional routes connecting McLane distribution centres throughout the U.S. Sun Belt region before the end of the year.

The partnership between Aurora and McLane originally began in 2023 through a pilot program that used autonomous trucks operated alongside a human safety driver. Over time, the pilot expanded to support two daily round-trips between Dallas and Houston. McLane has now approved the transition to driverless operations, which currently run seven days per week between the two Texas cities.

The companies are using a different operational model for the route. Aurora’s autonomous system handles the long-haul freeway portion of the delivery process before transferring the trailer to a McLane driver responsible for completing local deliveries to businesses such as fast-food restaurants and other customers.

Aurora said these handoffs take place at company terminals in Dallas and Houston, located directly off major freeways. The agreement is another important commercial milestone for Aurora as it transitions from developing autonomous trucking technology to operating as a commercial freight operator and generating revenue from fully autonomous routes. The development also arrives roughly one year after Aurora officially launched its commercial self-driving trucking service in Texas.

Since then, the company has secured additional commercial deals, including an agreement to transport frac sand for Detmar Logistics. Last month, Hirschbach Motor Lines agreed to purchase 500 Aurora-powered trucks under a memorandum of understanding that is expected to close later this year. Aurora currently operates autonomous trucks — some of which still include a human observer inside the cab — across several major freight corridors. These routes include Dallas to Houston, Fort Worth to El Paso, El Paso to Phoenix, Fort Worth to Phoenix, and Laredo to Dallas.

The company is also scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday after financial markets close.