Aurora and Uber Freight launch commercial pilot

The combination of Aurora Horizon and Uber Freight’s digital freight network will provide carriers with powerful tools to further maximize fleet utilization, broaden opportunities to haul goods, and streamline supply chain operations.

Today, we’re excited to announce a multiphase commercial pilot with Uber Freight to move freight in Texas and to explore integrating access to Uber Freight’s network within Aurora Horizon, our trucking product suite. This will provide carriers with an additional set of tools to further streamline their operations and maximize the utilization of their Aurora-powered trucks. 

A huge challenge in the freight industry is addressing underutilization and inefficient load procurement. This underuse is why many U.S. carriers rely on Uber Freight, a transformative logistics platform that connects shippers with one of the world’s largest digitally-enabled carrier networks.

Integrating Aurora Horizon with Uber Freight’s network through a multiphase commercial pilot

The integration of Aurora Horizon into a digital marketplace like Uber Freight enhances its value to carriers by providing them with additional tools to increase asset utilization and unlock more opportunities to haul goods. It also gives shippers access to a larger pool of carriers to haul local route legs. Ultimately, these opportunities result in a more streamlined, efficient, and flexible freight logistics network—one that is necessary to help alleviate the strain we’re experiencing across supply chains today.

Last week, Aurora-powered trucks with Vehicle Operators onboard began autonomously hauling drop-and-hook loads between terminals in Dallas and Houston, transferring the loads to Uber Freight carriers to handle the first and final mile. By leveraging Uber Freight’s technology, we were able to perform a seamless hand-off between Uber Freight’s local carriers and our Vehicle Operators at the terminal, paving the way for a hybrid future with local carriers and Aurora-powered trucks. As we expand our routes and Aurora terminals, we’ll increase our coverage and deepen the integration of Aurora Horizon within Uber Freight’s network.  

Looking ahead: Delivering a valuable business for carriers

Over the next couple of years, we’ll collaborate with Uber Freight to identify how to best integrate Aurora Beacon, our cloud-based infrastructure, with its network for seamless integration with Aurora Horizon. This way, when we launch our commercial business, carriers using Aurora Horizon may have the option to leverage Uber Freight's platform to haul freight for shippers between terminals, allowing them to utilize their drivers and existing assets at full capacity. 

We’re building the Aurora Driver to move freight at all hours of the day and night, stopping only to refuel. Autonomous trucks with built-in access to a digital freight network, like Uber Freight, present carriers of all sizes with the opportunity to move goods more quickly and efficiently. 

At a time when the benefits of the Aurora Driver have never been clearer from a societal and economic perspective, we’ll continue to partner with industry leaders like Uber Freight to build and deliver a product and business that the entire industry can trust and benefit from as safely and quickly as possible.