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McLane to Expand Aurora Driverless Freight From Texas to Sun Belt by Year-End

The rollout signals Aurora’s shift from testing to paid middle-mile trucking for a major distributor.

Overview

  • McLane will extend Aurora-powered runs beyond the DallasHouston lane to routes across the Sun Belt by year-end after approving driverless service on the Texas corridor.
  • Aurora’s system drives the highway leg between terminals, then a McLane driver takes a separate truck for local deliveries to restaurants.
  • The trucks on Paccar chassis run without a safety driver but include a non-driving observer, and Aurora plans an observer-less International LT fleet of 200 trucks later this year with no commitment from McLane.
  • Since 2023 the pilot has logged about 280,000 autonomous miles and hauled roughly 1,400 restaurant loads, growing to two daily round-trips that now operate seven days a week.
  • Aurora is broadening commercial routes in the region and has added deals with Detmar Logistics, a memorandum with Hirschbach to buy 500 trucks, and a new Volvo Autonomous Solutions lane between Dallas and Oklahoma City.