Aurora Innovation has extended its Fort Worth-El Paso pilot in Texas with Werner Enterprises to Phoenix, opening a 1,000-mile-plus autonomous lane, according to a Q1 shareholder letter from Aurora.
The lane between Fort Worth and Phoenix requires more than 15 hours of continuous driving, exceeding the 11-hour federal hours-of-service limitation for drivers, Aurora said in a Q1 business review report. With driverless trucks, Aurora aims to reduce transit times for a single driver by half.
While pilot hauls are happening with human supervision, Aurora plans to go driverless to Phoenix by the end of 2025, an Aurora spokesperson said.
Chad Dittberner, SVP of the van and expedited division at Werner, described autonomous trucking as “an integral part of our vision for the future” in the Aurora business review report. "We are excited for the extended miles being added on the Fort Worth to Phoenix segment.”
Werner first piloted AVs with Aurora back in April 2022, beginning with weekly runs on a 600-mile route from Fort Worth to El Paso.
Self-driving vehicle technology company Aurora has been alluding to adding a Phoenix lane to its driverless operations for at least a year. The company mentioned it in its 2024 Analyst and Investor Day report as well as its Q4 2024 earnings call this past February.
Aurora also plans in the second half of 2025 for its self-driving trucks to be validated for night driving and operations in adverse weather conditions, including rain and heavy wind, CEO Chris Urmson said in a Q1 2025 earnings call earlier this month.
The company already operates at night and in rainy conditions but with supervised autonomous hauls, meaning humans are behind the wheel, an Aurora spokesperson said. It's in the process of validating these capabilities for driverless operations through its safety case.
The company has completed over 4,000 driverless miles. Aurora has expanded to two driverless trucks scheduled daily and anticipates operating tens of trucks by the end this year, Urmson said.
