Aurora Accelerates Driverless Truck Production

Aurora Innovation is accelerating production of its driverless trucks after a six-week delay, with plans to reach a production rate of 20 vehicles per week in early December and operate more than 200 trucks by the end of February.

Production ramp targets more than 1,000 trucks annually

The autonomous trucking company said it has more than 20 driverless trucks built and entering its fleet. Working with upfitting partner Roush, Aurora is developing annual production capacity of more than 1,000 trucks, with additional room to scale.

Aurora expects to achieve the 20-truck-per-week production rate in early December. The company said the ramp-up was delayed by approximately six weeks because of material shortages, component-quality issues and final-testing problems.

Despite the delay, Aurora expects to finish 2026 with approximately 200 driverless trucks operating under its Transport as a Service agreements. The company expects to exceed 200 vehicles by the end of February and remains committed to ending 2027 with more than 1,000 driverless trucks in operation.

Shift toward customer-owned fleets

Aurora is also transitioning toward a driver-as-a-service business model. Rather than owning and operating all driverless trucks for customers, the company plans to manage autonomous fleets owned by shipping customers.

The strategy is intended to support Aurora’s longer-term goal of having 30,000 trucks operating by the end of 2030. Customers including Hirschbach Motor Lines, McLane Co. and Detmar Logistics are already running driverless operations with Aurora technology.

Aurora said the production increase should allow it to expand onto additional highway routes. The company began operating trucks without a human driver in July, according to the update.

Revenue outlook and industry response

Aurora now expects approximately $9 million in revenue for 2026, reflecting the delayed production ramp while still representing year-over-year growth. The company ended the third quarter of 2026 with more than $1 billion in cash and short-term investments.

Aurora also announced a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with Charger Logistics covering 500 trucks. The company’s production update contributed to a decline in Aurora Innovation shares after the delay was disclosed.

The company’s expansion plans continue to draw regulatory scrutiny. The Truck Safety Coalition previously told the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that granting an exemption sought by Aurora would be “regulatory malpractice.”