Core Summary

  • McLane Company and autonomous driving technology company Aurora Innovation announced on May 6 that they will expand their operations in Texasautonomous truckingcollaboration.
  • The partnership began with a pilot project in 2023. According to the press release, since then, Aurora's autonomous system, Aurora Driver, has accumulated over 280,000 miles and completed 1,400 freight runs for McLane.
  • The autonomous trucks have been approved to operate on a route of approximately 240 miles between Dallas and Houston, and McLane plans to expand the route to other distribution centers in the Sun Belt by the end of the year. Currently, the service primarily targets the foodservice industry, with potential expansion to other business areas in the future.

Deep Dive

Automated long-haul routes will help McLane better addressdriver shortages and turnoverissues, thereby maintaining a consistent experience for the commercial customers it serves. The autonomous vehicles handle the "middle-mile" transportation between commercial destinations, while McLane's drivers handle local deliveries to customers.

"Autonomous technology helps us improve efficiency across our supply chain, while our drivers remain focused on the critical last mile—and continue to serve as the face of the company to customers," said Susan Adzick, President of McLane Restaurant.

McLane has more than 80 distribution centers in the United States, butregulations for autonomous trucks vary by state, which may limit the number of sites McLane can connect to its automated network.

These trucks use Aurora's Driver system, which is rated as aLevel 4 systemunder SAE International's automation levels. Level 4 means the vehicle can operate without a driver under restricted conditions. In contrast, Level 3 automation requires a driver to take over when the system requests it, while Level 5 can operate without a driver under any conditions.