Aurora says its driverless network and customer list grew. The observer is still in the driver's seat.

From the archive. First announced by Aurora, February 2026. Where it stands now: Scaled up, as of October 2026, Aurora, Oct. 8, 2026. Why I saved this: Growing to 10 routes, including a roughly 1,000-mile Fort Worth–Phoenix run, is real growth. What stands out to me is that the biggest customer plan, Hirschbach's 500 trucks, is still a non-binding memorandum.

Previously

In May 2025, Aurora began paid driverless runs between Dallas and Houston for Uber Freight and Hirschbach, starting with one truck. Two weeks later, at the request of truck maker PACCAR, it moved a non-driving observer from the back seat to the driver's seat, saying it was confident this was "not required."

May 2026 — Aurora Innovation has spent the year adding routes, weather and customers. Here's what changed since Part 1 (May 2025), what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of May 2026)

Driverless miles: 250,000 as of January 2026, with zero collisions attributed to the Aurora Driver, Aurora says. (Aurora, Feb. 11)
Network: 10 routes, including a roughly 1,000-mile Fort Worth–Phoenix run. (Aurora, Feb. 11)
Customers: Seven driverless customers. (Aurora Q1 2026)
Biggest plan: Hirschbach's non-binding plan to own 500 trucks, from 2027. (Aurora, Apr. 30)
Cash flow: Aurora expects positive free cash flow in 2028. (Aurora, Feb. 11)
Observer: Still aboard; Aurora plans to remove it in Q2 with new hardware. (Aurora Q1 2026)

More lanes, more weather

On Feb. 11, Aurora said its fourth software release since the launch had tripled its driverless network to 10 routes. The earlier releases added night driving and then El Paso. The release lists five city pairs: Dallas–Houston, Fort Worth–El Paso, El Paso–Phoenix, Fort Worth–Phoenix and Dallas–Laredo.

The Fort Worth–Phoenix route runs about 1,000 miles. Aurora says that's beyond what a human driver can cover within federal hours-of-service limits, the rules on how long a driver may work before resting. That's the economic case for a truck that doesn't need rest. Hirschbach is an early customer on it.

The same release said the trucks can now run in rain, fog and heavy wind. Bad weather had constrained its driverless operations in Texas roughly 40% of the time in 2025, Aurora said. That's the clearest admission yet of how narrow the first year's operating window was.

Aurora also started running supervised loads, with a safety driver, to customer facilities. Examples include Hirschbach freight for Driscoll's on Dallas–Laredo and sand hauled by Detmar from Midland to Capital Sand in Monahans. Aurora said its capacity was fully committed through the third quarter of 2026, and it planned more than 200 driverless trucks by year-end.

Customers and a big, soft plan

On Apr. 30, Hirschbach signed a memorandum of understanding to own 500 Aurora-equipped trucks under a "Driver as a Service" model, with deliveries from 2027. Under that model, the carrier owns the truck and pays Aurora for the self-driving system. An MOU is a statement of intent, not a binding order. Final terms are to be set in binding agreements Aurora expects to close later in 2026. If they are signed, Aurora says, the deal would give it a multi-year revenue stream "valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars."

On May 6, Aurora named McLane, the Berkshire Hathaway food distributor, as a driverless customer. During a supervised pilot that began in 2023, Aurora built up to two round trips a day between Dallas and Houston, seven days a week, for McLane. McLane has now approved driverless operations on that lane, Aurora says. McLane's own drivers handle local delivery. "100% on-time" on the pilot is Aurora's claim.

Aurora's first-quarter results counted seven driverless customers. It also opened a supervised Dallas–Oklahoma City route for a customer of Volvo Autonomous Solutions. Volvo is the Swedish truck maker.

What's changed

The network grew from one city pair to five (10 routes, by Aurora's count), and added rain, fog and wind. The customer list grew from two to seven. What hasn't changed is the seat. A year on, Aurora's own results still describe a "partner-requested observer" in the cab. The plan to remove it depends on second-generation hardware, due on the International LT truck in the second quarter.

What went wrong

The observer stayed a year. PACCAR's request outlasted the first year of operations.
Weather cost a lot of time. About 40% of the time in 2025, by Aurora's own count.
The headline deal isn't binding. Hirschbach's 500 trucks are an MOU.
What we don't know yet: what customers pay, and whether anyone outside Aurora has checked the collision record.

Our follow-up question for Aurora

Will any independent party, such as a regulator or auditor, review the 250,000-mile safety record before the observer leaves the cab?

Sources

Aurora Innovation, “Aurora Triples Driverless Network to 10 Routes and Prepares to Expand Across U.S. Sun Belt,” Feb. 11, 2026. ir.aurora.tech
Aurora Innovation, “Leading Carrier Selects Aurora to Scale Autonomous Fleet to 500 Trucks,” Apr. 30, 2026. ir.aurora.tech
Aurora Innovation, “Aurora and McLane Company Partner to Bring Autonomous Trucks to U.S. Restaurant Supply Chain,” May 6, 2026. ir.aurora.tech
Aurora Innovation, “Aurora Announces First Quarter 2026 Results,” May 6, 2026. ir.aurora.tech
Chris Urmson, Aurora, “Driving the Inflection,” Oct. 8, 2026. aurora.tech
Earlier in this series: Part 1. /case/aurora-driverless-trucks-texas-launch

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder