Categories: Technology

Autonomous truck company Aurora delays hauling freight without human drivers until April

PITTSBURGH — Autonomous truck company Aurora Innovation says it won’t start hauling freight without humans on board until April of next year, a delay from previous statements that commercial service would begin by the end of 2024.

The Pittsburgh company on Wednesday said the April launch of driverless semis traveling from Dallas to Houston will be “modestly later” than the company had intended.

The company told investors on its third-quarter earnings conference call that it has made progress toward ensuring its trucks will operate safely.

Remaining obstacles are “primarily in the areas of some elements of surface street driving and some elements of construction that we see on the freeway,” CEO Chris Urmson said. “We want to have extremely high confidence in the system as we as we go forward.”

The company will start with about 10 autonomous tractor-trailers and move to “tens” of trucks by the end of next year, Urmson said.

“This shift to our timeline will have a negligible financial impact and does not affect our scaling efforts on our path to self-funding,” Urmson said.

Aurora also intends to haul freight without human drivers from Fort Worth, Texas, to Phoenix later in 2025, Urmson said.

Aurora in August added nearly $500 million to its balance sheet with a capital raise in August, which the company expects to fund the initial phases of its strategy to scale up driverless trucking.

News Today

Recent Posts

How he fits: Mike Williams

2024-11-06 11:05:02 The Steelers acquired wide receiver Mike Williams from the Jets on Tuesday via…

2 mins ago

Early 2024 election results could show trends that won’t hold up. Here’s how to make sense of the count.

As polls close across six time zones on election night, millions will be watching to…

7 mins ago

Jason Kelce Apologizes For Spiking Fan’s Phone Over Homophobic Slur

2024-11-06 10:50:02 Topline Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce apologized on Monday for slamming a…

17 mins ago

Steve Kornacki’s Every Move on MSNBC Election Coverage: Live

2024-11-06 10:40:02 Depending on your perspective, the Kornacki Cam — viewable on Peacock, MSNBC’s website…

27 mins ago

What Steve Kornacki is watching for tonight: From the Politics Desk

2024-11-06 10:30:02 Welcome to an Election Day edition of From the Politics Desk, where we’ll…

37 mins ago

How the Associated Press reports election results differently from other news outlets : NPR

2024-11-06 10:20:03 Here at NPR, we rely on the Associated Press for our election results.…

47 mins ago