Pittsburgh-based Aurora Innovation (Nasdaq: AUR) has expanded its autonomous pilot with San Francisco-based Uber Freight, further testing its autonomous freight hauling between Fort Worth and El Paso, according to a news release.
Aurora Horizon, Aurora’s autonomous trucking subscription service, will utilize the 600-mile commercial lane between Fort Worth and El Paso to meet Uber Freight’s holiday demand. The trucking service will make weekly hauls of consumer and wholesale goods across the state with its latest generation of trucks.
“The holidays are a challenging time for the logistics industry. We’re crafting Aurora Horizon to help carriers of all sizes alleviate some of the supply chain pressures that typically accompany them,” Sterling Anderson, chief product officer and co-founder of Aurora, said in the news release. “Deploying our technology with the Uber Freight team over this 600-mile trip at the peak of the season is an outgrowth of our mutual commitment to ensure that Aurora Horizon can enable carriers of all sizes to safely and efficiently haul freight 24/7/365 on the Uber Freight network.”
Atlanta-based Veritiv Corp. (NYSE: VRTV) is among the first of Uber Freight’s customers to access the new lane using Aurora Horizon.
“Our extensive and efficient digital marketplace is a key ingredient for autonomous freight deployment,” Lior Ron, CEO of Uber Freight, said in the release. “As the preferred marketplace for autonomous trucks, we are incredibly excited to partner with these two companies laser-focused on paving the way for a hybrid network together. It’s an honor to get in the trenches with Veritiv’s commitment to next-generation supply chains and Aurora’s best-in-class innovation to better understand how autonomous freight can and will safely become a reality.”
As the technology continues to undergo testing this holiday season, Aurora expects to launch its autonomous technology in the coming years. In August, Aurora picked up Schneider National Inc. (NYSE: SNDR) to further test its freight hauling capabilities. In April, Werner Enterprises (Nasdaq: WERN) entered a similar partnership with Aurora as well.
Aurora employs about 1,800 workers, most of whom work in Pittsburgh.
