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Aurora unveils its second-generation autonomous trucks
200-strong fleet of driverless tractors will be ready by end of 2026, company says
Key Takeaways:
- Aurora unveiled second-generation driverless trucks July 22 and plans a fleet of 200 autonomous trucks by the end of 2026.
- The International LT Series trucks feature upgraded sensors, a 1 million-mile design life and about half the build cost of Aurora's first generation.
- Aurora plans customer truck sales in 2027 and will report second-quarter 2026 results July 29.
Aurora Innovation launched a second generation of its autonomous trucks July 22, which will not require a human in the cab, ahead of forming a fleet of 200 driverless trucks by the end of 2026.
The trucks will be International Motors LT Series tractors upfitted by Roush Industries, which is expected to be delivering 20 trucks per week to Aurora by year’s end, a spokeswoman said July 22.
Unveiling a second generation of trucks — with a livestream scheduled for July 23 — marks a reboot of commercial driverless operations for Aurora after a May 2025 debut led to Paccar requesting an observer return to the cab of semis a couple of weeks later.
Aurora’s trucks will be truly driverless, the spokeswoman said, although a roadside assistance specialist may sometimes sit in the back seat to assist with issues on longer routes. These employees are not observers and are not in the cab to handle or observe any of the performance, she added.
If an employee is not in the cab and the truck encounters an issue, Aurora Driver — the company’s self-driving software package — is designed to pull over to a safe location and resume a trip when able, the company said in a July 22 blog.
Should a driverless truck need hands-on help for a tire blowout or another reason, a member of the Aurora team will be summoned, the blog added.
Aurora’s second-generation hardware is more powerful, durable and has upgraded long-range sensors for distances up to a kilometer. It is built to last 1 million miles and costs half as much to build as its predecessor, the spokeswoman said.
Pittsburgh-based Aurora is upfitting the LT Series tractors alongside partnerships for factory-installed self-driving trucks with Paccar and Volvo Autonomous Solutions.
Since the initial launch of driverless operations, Aurora has purchased a number of LT Series tractors. Those trucks are part of a driver-as-a-service model that the July 22 blog referred to as the company’s “try before you buy” program — Aurora Driver for Freight. Aurora expects to offer trucks for sale to customers in 2027.
Aurora Driver for Freight currently offers 10 routes: Dallas-Houston, Fort Worth-El Paso, El Paso-Phoenix, Fort Worth-Phoenix and Dallas-Laredo.
A number of customers, including Hirschbach Motor Lines and restaurant and convenience store distribution partner McLane, have already rolled out driverless operations in the past couple of months.
Hirschbach ranks No. 58 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America. Berkshire Hathaway division McLane ranks No. 7 on TT’s Top 100 list of the largest private fleets.
Dubuque, Iowa-based Hirschbach also inked a memorandum of understanding to buy 500 Aurora Driver-enabled trucks in April, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2027.
Volvo Autonomous Solutions also began commercial autonomous freight deliveries for customers AVI-SPL and DSV using factory-built Volvo VNL Autonomous trucks over the past couple of months.
Technology solutions provider AVI-SPL began commercial autonomous freight operations on Volvo VNL Autonomous trucks between Dallas and Houston in June. VAS launched autonomous transport services for DSV between Aurora’s terminals in Dallas and Houston in May.
Aurora will announce second-quarter 2026 results July 29.
