Aurora ready to roll out driverless trucks in Phoenix
Pittsburgh-based Aurora Innovation Inc. plans to have 200 completely driverless trucks operating on public roads by the end of the year, including on a highway corridor between Arizona and Texas.
Aurora (NASDAQ: AUR) made history last year when it became the first company to operate a completely driverless truck on a public road. At the time, an observer sat in the back seat, but weeks later manufacturing partner PACCAR pushed for the observer to sit behind the wheel while prototype parts were still in use.
Now, the company is preparing to launch a new feet of Class 8 trucks without an observer, beginning in Q2 2026. Announced on the company’s most recent earnings call by CEO and co-founder Chris Urmson, that fleet is expected to reach 200 trucks by the end of 2026.
The company currently has 30 trucks in its fleet, an Aurora Innovation spokesperson told the Business Journal.
“Just as the last two years brought robotaxis into the mainstream, we expect 2026 to mark the inflection point where the market recognizes that self-driving trucks have arrived and are quickly becoming a permanent fixture in our transportation landscape,” Urmson said.
Responding to an analyst question later in the call, Urmson revealed that the company expects manufacturers to produce approximately 20 trucks a week beginning in the third quarter of this year.
Company expands operational footprint to Arizona
The company also is expanding its operational footprint beyond Texas, with plans to run vehicles between El Paso and Phoenix, Fort Worth and Phoenix, and open a new route in Texas between Laredo and Dallas.
“With the additional driverless capabilities unlocked in our latest software release, we believe the Aurora Driver is now sufficiently generalized for us to begin expanding across the Sun Belt in 2026, aligned with customer demand,” Urmson said during the call. “If you’re in the Sun Belt in 2026, you won’t just read about the Aurora Driver, you’ll see it every day.”
Aurora this week began autonomous freight deliveries to support multiple customer facilities, including Hirschbach Motor Lines between Dallas and Laredo for California-based berry company Driscoll’s; Detmar Logistics between Midland and Capital Sand’s mining site in Monahans, Texas and a “leading U.S. carrier” from its Phoenix facility.
The Aurora spokesperson declined to disclose the name of the leading U.S. carrier in Phoenix, but said that specific partnership focuses on supervised autonomous hauls, which is a key step as the company plans for future driverless truck expansion.
Aurora in June opened a Phoenix terminal to support autonomous truck trips along the 1,000 mile corridor between Phoenix and Fort Worth. Hirschbach was an early customer on the route, putting it in a position to support the trucking company’s business line that moves goods from coast to coast.