Big Rigs · Nationwide · October 30, 2026

Self-Driving Truck Company Aurora Says It Will Miss Its Goal of 200 Trucks Running Without Truck Drivers in 2026 and Now Expects to Reach It in February

By Big Rig Daily Staff

Aurora Innovation, the self-driving truck company, says it will fall short of its goal of 200 driverless trucks on the road this year. The company now expects to reach 200 in February after supplier issues delayed production, Transport Topics reported on Oct. 29. Aurora announced the news Oct. 28 with its quarterly results.

What Aurora says happened

Aurora said supplier problems caused production constraints, which means it will also fall short of its 2026 revenue goal. Chief Financial Officer David Maday told Bloomberg News that the supplier issues have been resolved and that production is on pace to meet the company's previously stated goal of 1,000 trucks on the road by the end of 2027.

Aurora also aims for 30,000 trucks on the road by the end of 2030. Maday said the company has more demand than it can handle from nine customers. "We really think we're at a commercial inflection point," he said.

Where the trucks are built

Roush Enterprises handles final assembly of Aurora's trucks at a plant in suburban Detroit. Workers there upgrade the trucks with driverless controls and a suite of cameras, lidar and sensors. The factory will produce up to 20 self-driving Class 8 trucks a week in December, and Maday said the company may double that capacity, according to Transport Topics.

Truckers and customers

Aurora was able to take out the driver in July, Transport Topics reported. Customers including Hirschbach Motor Lines, McLane Co. and Detmar Logistics are running driverless operations. Transport Topics also reported that after Aurora took the driver out last year, Paccar, a manufacturer of its trucks, requested that a human remain behind the wheel, and that Aurora is working with Paccar to remove the driver in a future generation of trucks. Aurora's current trucks are built by International Motors.

A safety group objects

Land Line reported that the Truck Safety Coalition told the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that granting Aurora's exemption request would be "regulatory malpractice." The exemption request itself was not described in the sources Big Rig Daily reviewed, so no details of it are given here.

Money and the road ahead

Transport Topics reported that Aurora plans to shift from owning and operating driverless trucks for clients to managing fleets that its shipping customers will own. Maday said the company should reach positive cash flow in 2028, and that Aurora would have to raise money to get there.

Quick facts

• Goal missed: 200 driverless trucks in 2026, now expected in February.
• Cause: supplier constraints, which the company says are resolved.
• Next targets: 1,000 trucks by the end of 2027 and 30,000 by the end of 2030.
• Production: up to 20 Class 8 trucks a week at a Roush plant in December.
• Customers named: Hirschbach Motor Lines, McLane Co. and Detmar Logistics.

Big Rig Daily has also covered a Fresno carrier signing up for 75 Kodiak driverless trucks and new driverless truck testing rules lawmakers are weighing in New Mexico.

A question for readers

Would you feel safe sharing the interstate with 1,000 trucks that have nobody in the cab?

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