News Summary

  • Aurora Innovation CFO David Maday said on Wednesday's analyst call that the company's operating cost of 85 cents per mile is attracting carrier interest.
  • Interest in its driverless technology has "risen significantly" over the past six months as the company expands routes and commercial deployments.
  • Maday said the number of inquiries received has "increased sharply," and expects pricing to support "broad customer adoption."

In-Depth Analysis

Aurora Innovation CFO David Maday said on Wednesday's analyst call that the company's operating cost of 85 cents per mile is attracting carrier interest. Interest in its driverless technology has "risen significantly" over the past six months as the company expands routes and commercial deployments. Maday said the number of inquiries received has "increased sharply," and expects pricing to support "broad customer adoption."

Aurora told Trucking Dive it expects to deploy more than 200 driverless trucks (with no one in the cab) by the end of this year. Maday said this would translate to $80 million in revenue by the end of 2026.

An Aurora spokesperson said in an email to Trucking Dive that the company currently has 30 trucks serving its driverless routes. These routes validated for driverless operations include: Dallas to Houston, Fort Worth to El Paso, El Paso to Phoenix, Fort Worth to Phoenix (mentioned repeatedly), and Dallas to Laredo.

The company expects revenue growth to continue into 2027 and beyond, driven primarily by deepening relationships with existing partners.

Days before its first-quarter earnings release, Aurora announced on April 30 an expanded partnership with Hirschbach Motor Lines, a refrigerated carrier that will own 500 driverless trucks operated by Aurora's technology.

On May 4, Aurora announced a new 200-mile route from Dallas to Oklahoma City with partner Volvo Autonomous Solutions. According to the announcement, through this collaboration, Volvo will autonomously transport goods to customer facilities, reducing the need for transfers and additional handoffs.

Subsequently, on May 6, a new autonomous route from Dallas to Houston with observers in the cab was announced in partnership with McLane Company. The agreement will expand by the end of the year to new routes between the food distributor's facilities across the U.S. Sun Belt.

Aurora and McLane began a supervised autonomous pilot in Texas in 2023, accumulating over 280,000 miles and safely completing more than 1,400 loads with a 100% on-time rate. According to the announcement, the pilot includes Dallas to Houston with two round trips per day, seven days a week, using a hybrid model: Aurora's driverless technology handles the long-haul middle segment, while McLane drivers handle local delivery at customer locations.

Maday said Aurora's growing public presence and commercial success are generating interest, "partly because we're out there, and people can see and experience it more."

At the Raymond James Institutional Investors Conference in March, Maday cited the American Transportation Research Institute's (ATRI) annual operational cost survey. The 2025 report shows an average cost of about $2.26 per mile—with driver wages and benefits accounting for about $1 per mile, he said at the investor conference, noting that Aurora plans to price its operations at "about 85 cents per mile."

Maday said on Wednesday's analyst call that this is where Aurora's value proposition resonates.

"I think customers have given us very good and direct feedback," he said. "We are confident in our ability to grow the business and achieve our profitability goals."