On Tuesday, Uber Freight announced it would partner with Aurora Innovation to launch Premier Autonomy, a program that will provide Uber Freight carriers of all sizes with access to driverless miles.
The program is part of a longstanding partnership between Uber Freight and Aurora, which aims to integrate and deploy autonomous trucks into the Uber Freight network. Deploying the autonomous truck, the companies said, allows all carriers, regardless of size, to use autonomous technology to improve their business efficiency. Uber Freight will be Aurora’s first customer and will use the Dallas-to-Houston freight route, which is expected to begin in the last months of 2024.
“Uber Freight and Aurora see a tremendous opportunity to democratize autonomous trucks for carriers of all sizes, enabling them to drive more revenue, scale their fleets, and strengthen their bottom lines,” said Lior Ron, founder and chief executive officer of Uber Freight. “Autonomous trucks will make moving goods more efficient, and this industry-first program will help facilitate and accelerate the adoption of autonomous trucks with our carriers. We’re proud to work alongside the amazing team at Aurora to bring this technology into the hands of carriers and ultimately usher in a new era of logistics.”
Premier Autonomy offers carriers an early and streamlined path to purchase the Aurora Driver for freight hauling. The program uses autonomous technology to do in one day what would take a human several days to complete. A trip from Dallas to Los Angeles, the companies said, takes two to three days with a human-driven truck but can be completed in one day with an autonomous driver. Aurora’s research indicates autonomous trucks can be up to 32 percent more energy efficient than traditional trucking by optimizing highway speeds, reducing deadhead miles and idling, and increasing vehicle utilization and off-peak driving. Since its pilots began in 2020, the two companies have hauled millions of pounds of cargo, officials said.
“With Uber Freight, we can provide hundreds of carriers Premier Autonomy to autonomous truck capacity that they wouldn’t otherwise have. Working with carriers of all sizes is one of the many ways we will transform the industry and see thousands of driverless trucks on the road,” Ossa Fisher, president of Aurora, said. “It’s exciting and validating that companies like Uber Freight are reserving our long-term capacity for their customers. We all see collective value in this offering.”