First driverless semi hits the highways in Texas

After years of trial runs and setbacks, Aurora says its first fully autonomous semi-truck has hit public highways in the Lone Star State

The company announcing Thursday the self-driving semi is making deliveries between Dallas and Houston and has completed roughly 12,000 miles so far

The Aurora CEO says he tagged along in the backseat for the truck's maiden ride

He called the experience the honor of a lifetime, adding in a statement

we founded Aurora to deliver benefits of self-driving technology quickly and broadly

Now we are the first company to successfully and safely operate a commercial driverless trucking service on public roads

The truck features sensors capable of tracking the length of four football fields and employs a high-tech computer system

The company says it's currently operating a single autonomous truck for deliveries, but plans to add more later this year

Aurora believes its new technology will be a solution to a current shortage of truckers and high turnover rates, as well as rising costs of operation

The company says it could also reduce labor costs and improve safety on highways

After four years of supervised testing, the company delivered more than 10,000 loads to customers across roughly 3 million miles with its autonomous vehicles

The breakthrough comes amid setbacks implementing driverless trucks on the open road

They were once thought to be introduced before robo-taxis and autonomous private vehicles

given the open nature of highways as opposed to city and residential streets

Aurora anticipated rolling out its new autonomous trucks last year, but delayed the deployment to this year

citing a need to update its self-driving system for surface street driving and construction sites The industry has faced obstacles in terms of technology setbacks and regulations Public opinion polls show nearly 70 percent of Americans are afraid of self

cars in the wake of some high-profile incidents involving companies like Tesla and Cruise

Cruise faced legal trouble after one of its robo-taxis hit and injured a woman in San Francisco

in 2023. Self-driving semis also face obstacles from regulations, but these barriers appear to be

easing. California regulators are currently considering a proposal allowing autonomous large pickup trucks of more than 10,000 pounds to be tested on public roads. The California

Department of Motor Vehicles says self-driving trucks fitting this criteria are already being

tested in states like Texas, Arizona, and Arkansas. The proposed rules are now in a public comment

period ending in June. Currently, California is the only state banning self-driving heavy-duty

trucks. The new proposal is reportedly likely to face opposition from safety advocates and labor

unions for commercial truck drivers who are worried about job loss due to semi-automation

and they also raise concerns over the technology's risk to public safety

California lawmakers passed legislation in 2023 mandating people aboard self-driving semi-trucks, but the bill was vetoed by Governor Newsom. He justified his veto saying more regulation was not

necessary because existing rules for self-driving vehicles were adequate. The Teamsters Union

supported the bill. Companies like Aurora often use states like Texas and California for testing

autonomous technology. California-based autonomous trucking company Gattic currently completes short-haul deliveries for major retailers such as Walmart. For more unbiased updates

download the Straight Arrow News app or go to san.com