To satisfy the increasing demand for delivery services over the holiday season, Uber Technologies Inc. and the self-driving technology startup Aurora Innovation Inc. will expand their driverless pilot program in Texas.
In order to assist customers of logistics company Uber Freight as it ships goods throughout the holiday season, the program will be expanded to the recently opened 600-mile commercial lane between Fort Worth and El Paso in Texas, Aurora said on Friday.
Uber Freight is a platform that links shippers with available truck drivers to move their goods.
The businesses started their trial operation to deliver items automatically between Dallas and Houston around a year ago.
“We’re crafting Aurora Horizon to help carriers of all sizes alleviate some of the supply-chain pressures that typically accompany (holiday season),” Aurora co-founder Sterling Anderson said. Aurora Horizon is its truck-specific self-driving product.
The future of logistics has been predicted to be autonomous goods hauling, which might increase truck utilization and increase terminal-to-terminal transportation frequency.
In the United States, truck drivers are not permitted to operate their vehicles for longer than 11 hours per day.
The Aurora Driver self-driving platform is expected to be released by the end of 2024, according to Aurora Innovation, which also counts FedEx Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation as partners.
