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Long-haul trucking has faced many challenges in recent years, from highway safety concerns to driver shortages to spiking fuel costs. In the not-so-distant future, those challenges could be in the rearview mirror.

New self-driving technology is being rolled out that is expected to transform long-haul trucking. Aurora, a leader in self-driving technology, recently introduced Aurora Driver 2—its second-generation hardware and software, as well as a new truck platform designed for driverless operations. The company is working with many of today’s leading shipping and logistics firms, integrating the technology into their long-haul freight and logistics operations.

Chris Urmson, Aurora’s co-founder and CEO, recently explained how Aurora Driver 2 will help overcome industry challenges and ultimately make freight driving safer, more fuel-efficient, and cost-effective.

Q:
Tell us about Aurora Driver 2 and how it’s advancing driverless trucking.

Chris Urmson: Last year, we started regular driverless truck operations on public roads, something never done before. Aurora Driver 2, our second-generation platform—which includes hardware and software built into our trucks—is dramatically more durable. It is designed for a million miles of operation, which is the typical lifespan of Class 8 trucks. Our lidar sensing technology can now see a kilometer down the road, which gives the trucks extra time to react, understand the world around them, and keep everyone safe on the road.

Aurora Driver 2 is a leap forward in self-driving technology. We continue adding routes in the Sun Belt states, including the 1,000-mile stretch between Phoenix, Arizona, and Fort Worth, Texas. When we launched the first generation of this technology last year, it could only operate in daytime; now, we also operate at night and in inclement weather. By the end of 2026, we plan to have a couple hundred trucks operating driverlessly, with thousands expected in 2027.

Q:
What challenges does Aurora Driver 2 solve for the freight and logistics industries?

Urmson: The technology has a transformational impact for our customers’ businesses—both top and bottom line. Safety is our top priority, as there are about a half-million collisions and 5,000 fatalities involving trucks every year in the U.S. All of our customers put safety first, and we offer technology that can prevent collisions and make our roads safer.

The second big benefit is utilization. Truck drivers today can only drive for about 11 hours a day and have to take breaks along the way. That’s for good reason: They need to be safe and attentive behind the wheel. In contrast, the Aurora Driver 2 can operate for 20-plus hours a day with constant awareness. So, if you’re a trucking company, you can now move your trucks twice as much and effectively double your revenue per truck.

Another big benefit is fuel economy. We see a significant improvement in fuel efficiency when our self-driving technology operates trucks compared to when people—very skilled drivers, nonetheless—drive them. An analysis found that customers could increase their fuel economy by up to 32% depending on how their trucks have been used. That’s a big deal, considering the high prices of diesel fuel today. It’s also good for the environment and all of us, so it’s a win all around.

Q:
You mentioned greater safety, but some people are skeptical about the safety of self-driving vehicles in general. How do you address those concerns?

Urmson: We already have significant data around the safety improvements that can be achieved by self-driving vehicles, including by a well-known driverless taxi service launched in several U.S. cities. We limit the places our trucks drive to those where we have confidence they’re going to be safe on the road, and when we launched Aurora Driver, we ran it through millions of tests to confirm its road safety.

But there’s also plenty of anecdotal evidence. When we looked at the 29 fatal crashes caused by trucks that happened between Dallas and Houston from 2018 to 2022, and we reviewed the police reports and created simulations, we found that none of them would have happened if Aurora had been driving the initiating vehicle. Most collisions with trucks are caused by distracted drivers and human error.

Q:
What kind of demand do you see for self-driving freight over the next five to 10 years? Will human-driven trucks become obsolete?

Urmson: My expectation is that within five years, if you’re a long-haul trucking company not supplementing your fleet with driverless technology, you won’t be competitive. Given the challenges in finding people willing to drive trucks on long-haul routes—which is a hard, dangerous, and demanding job—and all the benefits I mentioned, it’s just going to make business and financial sense to have self-driving freight as part of your fleet. It will help drive top-line growth and improve operating margins for the companies that use it. We have an early customer, Hirschbach Motor Lines, that’s planning to buy 500 of our trucks to use on long-haul routes, dedicating their drivers to the more desirable shorter routes—as they see the competitive advantages it will provide them.

At the same time, I expect today’s truck drivers will continue to have jobs. It will allow them to have a better quality of life, as companies will continue to have human drivers that handle shorter routes where personalized customer service is important. And new jobs will be created as the logistics industry evolves and expands—including autonomous-driving technicians and remote support. So ultimately, this will help our customers and their drivers while opening up new job opportunities.