Aurora’s self-driving trucks can now travel nonstop on a 1,000-mile route between Fort Worth and Phoenix — exceeding what a human driver can legally accomplish.
The distance, and the time it takes to travel it, offers up positive financial implications for Aurora — and any other company hoping to commercial self-driving semitrucks.
It takes Aurora about 15 hours to carry freight in its driverless trucks on the 1,000-mile journey, according to the company. Human truck drivers take much longer to complete the same distance due to federal regulations that limit how long they can be behind the wheel. For instance, truck drivers must stop for a 30-minute break after eight hours and can operate a semi truck for a maximum of 11 hours at a time, according to federal regulations. Once drivers hit that threshold they cannot get behind the wheel for another 10 hours.
“This represents more than a technological achievement,” Aurora co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson said during the company’s earnings call Wednesday afternoon. “It is the dawn of a superhuman future for freight.”
It also offers compelling economics to its customers, which includes Uber Freight, Werner, FedEx, and Schneider. The company said that eventually it can cut transit times nearly in half, a stat that has won over companies like Hirschbach, an early customer on the Fort Worth-to-Phoenix route.
Aurora said in a letter to shareholders it is poised to expand across the Sun Belt of the United States. Today, the company operates driverless trucks — some with a human observer still in the cab — on routes between Dallas and Houston, Fort Worth and El Paso, El Paso and Phoenix, Fort Worth and Phoenix, and Laredo and Dallas.
The expansion has helped Aurora transition from a developer of autonomous trucks to a commercial operator that is earning money on its driverless routes.
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