Dive Brief:
- Aurora Innovation announced two customer agreements this week to begin driverless hauls with Arizona-based carrier Value Truck and Charger Logistics of Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
- The tractors utilized through both arrangements will feature Aurora’s just-released second generation self-driving truck. Value Truck will utilize Aurora’s technology to move freight more efficiently in the Southwest. While Charger Logistics will use driverless trucks to add capacity for a route between Dallas and Laredo.
- Andy Khera, president and CEO of Charger Logistics, said in a July 28 statement that autonomous trucking represents a transformational opportunity for the freight industry and expects the move for his company to “improve asset utilization and strengthen service reliability” in one of the carrier’s busiest U.S. freight corridors.
Dive Insight:
The tech firm’s customer agreements with Value Truck and Charger Logistics comes ahead of the company’s Q2 earnings announcement scheduled for Wednesday and follows last week’s launch of its latest generation of self-driving trucks. The company said its second generation autonomous trucks will be deployed across its commercial network, which includes 10 driverless routes across the U.S. Sun Belt to serve additional customers.
Aurora will own and operate the trucks that will be contracted by Value Truck and Charger Logistics through a technology as a service agreement, an Aurora spokesperson said in emails to Trucking Dive. These are full commercial contracts that include set pricing and volume.
For both customers, the routes initially will be supervised trips beginning in Q3, which Aurora expects to transition to daily driverless trips on its second generation driverless trucks in Q4, according to Aurora.
Value Truck CEO Joe Skoog said its future driverless routes will initially include Phoenix to Fort Worth and Laredo to Dallas, though the number of trucks that will be deployed for the routes was not disclosed in the July 27 release. “The Aurora Driver will add flexible capacity on key long-haul corridors while allowing our drivers to focus where their experience matters most,” Skoog said in the announcement.
Aurora’s initial two-route arrangement with Value Truck frees up the carrier’s drivers to focus on local freight and adds the potential for 24/7 capacity on key long-haul and high-volume routes, per the release.
Khera said autonomous trucks will enhance capacity for Charger Logistics, especially for customers moving temperature controlled, pharmaceutical and other mission-critical freight on its Dallas to Laredo lane, one of its busiest in the U.S. Sun Belt.
Aurora did not disclose how many trucks would be used in its contract with Charger Logistics. A company spokesperson said in an email that the firm has not shared any truck figures for any of its customer contracts.
Aurora’s agreements with Value Truck and Charger Logistics are additional steps in the autonomous tech firm’s deployment of its technology through carrier partners. The company in April announced an expansion of its partnership with Hirschbach Motor Lines, where the reefer carrier will own 500 driverless trucks operated by Aurora’s technology. That news was followed by Aurora’s new driverless route announcements in May with Volvo Autonomous Solutions and food distributor McLane Company.
Using autonomous trucks to handle lengthier hauls and less desirable routes are the chief reasons why Hirshbach and McLane Company are turning to driverless technology. Hirschbach President and CEO Richard Stocking in a statement noted the technology provides drivers with greater flexiblity and expands use of driverless trucks was a quality-of-life investment in its people. While Susan Adzick, president of McLane Restaurant, said in a statement that autonomous technology helps her company drive greater efficiencies across its supply chain and allows its drivers to focus on the customer-facing last mile.
In announcing its new generation trucks, Aurora co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson said in a statement that the company’s latest platform provides the foundation to deliver at scale. He added its newest fleet will use International LT Series tractors featuring the firm’s next generation hardware.
Through its manufacturing supplier partner Roush, Aurora is targeting an annual production run rate of 1,000 trucks later this year.
“Deploying our second-generation truck allows us to put hundreds of autonomous trucks on the road and ultimately into the hands of more customers,” Urmson said in a press release.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional information from Aurora Innovation regarding its contracts with Charger Logistics and Value Truck.
