Aurora’s Driverless Vehicles Can Now Run Longer Than People Drivers Are Legally Allowed

• Pittsburgh-based Aurora is on monitor to triple its community of driverless supply vans.
• The corporate’s newest software program replace may also allow vans to drive a 1,000-mile route between Fort Price and Phoenix with out stopping for necessary breaks.
• The journey takes roughly 15 hours to finish, however human drivers must relaxation after 11 hours.

Aurorathe Pittsburgh-based autonomous trucking firm, needs to supercharge its fleet of driverless massive rigs. The corporate stated the most recent software program replace to its driverless {hardware} suite will allow its vans to drive nonstop from Phoenix to Fort Price.

That journey is roughly 1,000 miles lengthy and takes 15 hours to finish, however right here’s the place vans with out drivers behind the steering wheel have the higher hand, as a result of they’re not topic to the identical necessary relaxation breaks as human drivers. In contrast, a human driver must take a relaxation after 11 hours of driving. A second driver may take the wheel, although.

Peterbilt 579 powered by the Aurora Driver

Picture by: Aurora

“Increasing throughout the Solar Belt and introducing buyer endpoints permits us to offer our prospects with the capability they should transfer items at a scale that wasn’t doable earlier than,” stated Chris Urmson, co-founder and CEO of Aurora. “Being a provider is a sport of margins, and if autonomy can work across the clock, it is going to be key to rising our prospects.”

That is Aurora’s fourth software program launch since deploying driverless vans on America’s roads again in April 2025. The primary model validated preliminary driverless operations between Dallas and Houston, the second enabled night time driving, and the fourth opened up routes to and from El Paso.

The corporate at present has 5 autonomous vans carrying cargo with out security displays between Dallas, Houston, Fort Price and El Paso. Extra vans are on the highway with security displays for a number of of the startup’s purchasers, together with Hirschbach Motor Traces and Detmar Logistics, however Aurora’s CEO beforehand stated in an interview with The Verge that the displays are within the cabs due to optics, and their presence doesn’t have an effect on the corporate’s progress.

By the top of this 12 months, the startup expects to have over 200 driverless vans in operation. The growth will likely be boosted by the agency’s new automated mapping characteristic, which may deploy direct-to-customer lanes sooner, with the assistance of Verifiable AI. “After a single guide drive, cloud-based algorithms are capable of generate semantic elements, which helps to construct new maps with little to no human help,” the corporate stated.

As a part of the growth, a brand new semi-truck will likely be added to the startup’s fleet within the second quarter of 2026. Based mostly on the Worldwide LT, the driverless massive rig will characteristic Aurora’s newest {hardware} suite, which prices half in comparison with the present stack. The brand new Worldwide LT will be part of the Peterbilt 579 and Volvo VNL.

Since launching industrial operations final 12 months, Aurora’s vans have amassed over 250,000 driverless miles and over 4.5 million industrial miles.