Aurora has quietly marked a major milestone in the race to commercialize autonomous vehicles, starting a fully -free truck service that has already recorded more than 1,200 miles on public highways in Texas.
18-Company rails have closed frozen pastries while operating without a man in the taxi along an interstate 45 stretch between Dallas and Houston, marking a turning point for both the goods and the future of automated transport.
Aurora’s departure on April 27 followed four years of road testing with security drivers and the completion of a “security case” rigor-based analysis used to justify the willingness of the public placement system, according to the New York Times.
Since then, the company says its Aurora driver system has completed more than 1,200 miles fully autonomous with Uber Freight and Hirschbach Lines Motor partners.
“This was a surreal moment,” Aurora Chris Urmson’s CEO and CEO, who boarded the rear seat during inaugural round trip, in a blog entry.
“I’m navigating the highway at 65 miles an hour, not behind the wheel, but in the back seat, seeing the landscape unfolding while a paste load with trucks are directed by the technology I helped create … and yet it’s all boring. This is exactly how it should be.”
Urmson, a former Google Self-Driving Car project leader, said Aurora trucks are equipped with a 360 degree sensor suite capable of detecting objects from to 1,000 meters away.
The system is designed to drive carefully, obeying speed limits, avoiding aggressive maneuvers and using air outbreaks to keep sensors clean in the rain.
Right now, vehicles only operate during the day hours and in good weather, though Aurora aims to expand the roads in El Paso and Phoenix by the end of 2025.
However, rapid participation has raised alarms between security experts, labor lawyers and even experienced trucks.
“My beginner opinion is: It’s scary,” Angela Griffin, a veteran driver who has experienced in the forefront of how the weather and construction areas can confuse even human drivers, told Times.
“I don’t see how a driverless truck would have been able to read and recognize the threat that was immediate.”
The regulatory supervision of autonomous trucks remains limited.
The Federal Administration of Motor Transport Safety of the Transport Department has not yet issued comprehensive rules specific to the automated cargo, although it says it “is actively working” with state governments and interested parties to the industry to modernize security protocols.
Some experts worry that states like Texas – which welcomes innovation with fewer restrictions – can become testing bases for unproven technology.
“There is still no demand for independent controls and balances,” told Times Philip Koopman, an autonomous vehicle safety researcher at Carnegie Mellon University.
“Aurora is more careful than most, but the regulatory structure is just not there yet.”
Despite these concerns, some industry veterans believe that automation can eventually make the routes safest.
“I think the growth of jobs will exceed the addition of autonomous trucks,” said Gary Buchs, a tall driver who now supports autonomous technologies.
“Young people want jobs to be changed.”
Aurora insists that its technology is not designed to replace human executives, but to meet the growing demand for goods and addressing work shortages.
“It’s a noble job,” Urmson said. “That said, people don’t especially want to do it anymore.”
With only two trucks currently operating without a driver-and with a temporarily restored observer at the request of the truck manufacturer-Aurora’s participation is still in the early stages.
The company plans at least 20 trucks this year.
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