Now Aurora’s Autonomous Trucks Can Drive at Night: Rain’s Next Big Challenge

Aurora Innovation is hitting new milestones in autonomous trucking, with its self-driving trucks now operating at night, a significant step toward transforming long-haul freight transportation in the U.S.

In its Q2 report, Aurora confirmed that its driverless trucks have logged over 20,000 commercial miles between Dallas and Houston, with human observers onboard only for monitoring, not intervention. The company also opened a new terminal in Phoenix, enabling a tart=”672″ data-end=”700″>15-hour autonomous route between Fort Worth and Phoenix for logistics partners like Hirschbach and Werner.

Aurora’s trucks are now able to drive longer distances beyond federally mandated limits for human drivers, thanks to their newly validated night-driving capabilities. Traditional drivers are capped at 11 hours within a 14-hour window and must rest for 10 hours between shifts—limits autonomous trucks can bypass, greatly improving efficiency.

A key enabler? Aurora’s proprietary long-range lidar system, which detects objects over 450 meters away, even in complete darkness. The lidar’s precision offers an 11-second reaction advantage over human drivers, making nighttime highway travel safer and more reliable.

With the Sunbelt route as a core focus, Aurora is now setting its sights on the next major challenge: driving in rain. CEO data-start=”1550″ data-end=”1566″>Chris Urmson and his team aim to validate the trucks’ ability to navigate through variable weather conditions, taking Aurora one step closer to nationwide, all-weather autonomous freight delivery.

Stay tuned as Aurora continues to redefine the future of self-driving logistics.