Aurora puts second-generation driverless trucks on the road

Aurora puts second-generation driverless trucks on the road

22 July 2026: Aurora says it has launched its second-generation driverless trucks, built on the International LT Series and fitted with new hardware designed to last one million miles. The company plans to use the new fleet across a commercial network that now covers 10 driverless routes through the US Sun Belt.

Not yet independently verified. Aurora is the only source. Its headline says launched while the text says it plans to deploy the new fleet, and the number of second-generation trucks in service is not given. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

A new truck, a new computer

The first-generation trucks put Class 8 vehicles on public roads last year with no one behind the wheel. As of the end of June, the Aurora Driver had completed nearly 440,000 driverless miles. Aurora calls the hardware more powerful than before and says it was built to survive a million miles, which is what the company names as the key trait for deployment at scale.

Before launch, Aurora closed its Safety Case for the new truck and hardware. The Safety Case is what Aurora calls its well-established bar for operating on public roads without a person behind the wheel.

Roush builds the fleet

Roush, a product development supplier, is installing redundant systems and fitting Aurora's hardware at a production facility dedicated to Aurora. The two companies have formalised an upfit process, and Roush is positioned to reach an annual run-rate of 1,000 Aurora trucks later this year. A run-rate is a pace of output, not a delivery count, and the release does not say how many second-generation trucks are in service today.

The release links the capacity to demand. It cites a customer's recent plan to buy 500 Aurora Driver-powered trucks and says the production partnership lets Aurora meet that demand.

What the chief executive says

"Last year's driverless launch proved our technology could operate safely on public roads," said Chris Urmson, Aurora's co-founder and chief executive, adding that "our new platform now provides the foundation to deliver at scale". Deploying the second-generation truck, he said, lets Aurora put hundreds of autonomous trucks on the road and into the hands of more customers.

A livestream debut of the trucks was scheduled for Thursday 23 July at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, the day after the announcement.

A headline that runs ahead of the text

The headline says Aurora launches the trucks, and the opening sentence says it has launched them. The following paragraph is more careful: it says Aurora "plans to deploy" the new fleet across its network. The release also mentions a livestream debut a day later and a production run-rate that is still a target. Read together, the new truck is operating and in production planning, but the release gives no count of trucks on the road, no list of routes carrying them and no date by which the old trucks are phased out.

Aurora lists AUMOVIO, FedEx, Hirschbach, McLane, NVIDIA, PACCAR, Ryder, Schneider, Toyota, Uber, Uber Freight, Volvo Trucks, Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Werner among its partners.

Company profile on TrustList: Aurora Innovation

Related on TrustList:

• Hirschbach signs non-binding deal for 500 Aurora driverless trucks
• Pony.ai and Verne begin driverless test rides on Zagreb's airport route
• Taisei and TIER IV test three self-driving cars in a tunnel for Japan's MLIT

Sources

• Aurora Innovation: Aurora Launches Second-Generation Driverless Trucks in U.S. to Meet Customer Demand, 22 July 2026