Aurora lands McLane deal to run driverless truck routes in Texas

Aurora Innovation will start hauling loads in driverless trucks for distribution giant McLane, the latest company to adopt the startup’s autonomous vehicle technology following a multi-year pilot program.

Under the commercial agreement announced Wednesday, trucks outfitted with Aurora’s self-driving system will be used to transport goods between Dallas and Houston. These trucks will operate autonomously and will not have a human safety driver on board who can take over. However, Aurora will still have what it describes as a “human observer” sitting in the cab — who does not operate the vehicle — per an agreement it has with truck manufacturer Paccar.