Overview

• Aurora’s Level 4 semis began driverless freight service last month on Interstate 45 between Dallas and Houston
• The trucks hauled 25,000-pound loads such as frozen treats without a human at the wheel
• Less than three weeks into operations, Paccar asked Aurora to put a human supervisor back in the driver’s seat over prototype part concerns
• Experts highlight safety gaps in poor weather and unpredictable traffic and warn that federal regulations for autonomous trucks remain underdeveloped
• Aurora plans to scale its driverless fleet to at least 20 trucks by year’s end and faces competition from Kodiak Robotics and other developers