Aurora Innovation used a July 23 livestream to provide a closer look at its second-generation autonomous trucking platform3. The company plans to deploy hundreds of second-generation driverless trucks across its ten operating routes in the U.S. Sun Belt1.
The second-generation trucks are built on the International LT Series platform — the first truck to operate without a driver using Aurora's new hardware. Aurora has partnered with Roush, a Michigan-based engineering and manufacturing firm, to install its autonomous driving technology and redundant vehicle systems at a dedicated upfit operation. The Roush facility has the capacity to produce at least 1,000 trucks annually, and Aurora expects Roush to reach that annual production run-rate later this year.
Driver 2 is also available on the Volvo VNL Autonomous, installed directly on the production line at Volvo Trucks' New River Valley manufacturing plant in Virginia. Aurora serves fleets through its partnership with Volvo Autonomous Solutions.
The new hardware was designed for a one-million-mile commercial service life and features a fully redundant, NVIDIA-powered computer that is 40% smaller than the previous version. Aurora's FirstLight lidar can detect objects more than half a mile away in bright glare and nighttime conditions, and the company said that at highway speeds, FirstLight could give the truck a 34-second advantage when responding to a roadway hazard.
The company projected that a 1,000-mile Fort Worth-to-Phoenix trip could be completed up to 40% faster than with a solo driver by eliminating required rest periods. Aurora said operating a truck for more hours each day could generate twice as much revenue per vehicle.
On the safety front, Aurora requires closure of a Safety Case with rigorous validation and millions of passing tests before putting new driverless configurations on public roads. Nat Beuse of Aurora said drivers are 10 times more likely to result in a crash than other factors such as bad weather or mechanical issues.
Aurora also introduced a software suite intended to incorporate driverless trucks into existing dispatch, maintenance, and terminal operations. A primary fleet app provides vehicle locations, routes, destination information, mileage, truck condition, and operating status, and can connect with existing transportation management and fleet management platforms through software interfaces. A separate mobile app lets employees launch and receive trucks, check the health of the Aurora Driver, schedule service, and request technical support — and Aurora said it operates on familiar hardware and requires no previous experience with autonomous trucks. The platform was developed to work with freight equipment already moving through customer networks, including intermodal equipment and refrigerated trailers.
Some of Aurora's earliest commercial customers are beginning to transition toward owning and operating Aurora Driver-powered trucks, with Aurora providing technical and operational support as customers assume that responsibility.
As of the end of June, the Aurora Driver had completed nearly 440,000 driverless miles on public roads. Aurora said it is seeing an uptick in commercial use for its fleet as it expands its driverless route networks.
Aurora's second-quarter results are expected on July 29. Fiscal AI polled consensus estimates of $1.7 million in revenue and a loss per share of $0.12 for Q2. AUR stock has surged more than 73% so far this year.
ANALYSIS The simultaneous expansion of vehicle platforms — International LT via Roush and Volvo VNL via Volvo's own production line — gives Aurora two parallel manufacturing channels as it scales toward its 1,000-truck target, reducing single-supplier risk. The fleet management software rollout signals a shift from Aurora operating the trucks itself toward enabling customers to integrate autonomous vehicles into their own logistics operations.