Clear the roads for Transformers whose only form is truck: Self-driving semis are officially making long-haul deliveries in Texas without anybody onboard—an achievement expected to become more common over the next year.
Leading the charge: The autonomous freight firm Aurora is now hauling goods on a popular route between Dallas and Houston without a safety driver present, the company announced last Thursday, following four years of practice runs:
- Aurora said it had already logged 1,200 human-free miles.
- Its first customers are Uber Freight and Hirschbach Motor Lines.
Savor every chance you get to beg a truck driver to honk their horn. More than 1 in 10 freight trucks you see on US roads will be self-driven in 2035, according to a McKinsey analysis that also pegged a trucking company’s cost-per-mile savings at 42% if it automates an entire fleet. Truckers unions have generally criticized automation as a threat to their job security and public safety, since self-driving vehicles lack federal regulation.
Looking ahead…at least 10 more companies are closing in on their own self-driving truck tech, with most planning to launch commercially by next year, according to Axios.—ML