Partnership targets autonomous trucking
Aurora, the autonomous vehicle company that made a splash in the industry last year when it acquired Uber’s self-driving division, has entered into another new collaboration — this time to bring autonomous trucks to the road.
The company announced Tuesday a partnership with PACCAR, a manufacturer of medium and heavy duty trucks based in Bellevue, Wash.
Just as the acquisition of Uber was meant in part to bring Aurora’s self-driving technology to an already established rideshare platform of drivers and customers, the partnership with PACCAR will connect the company with a network based on trucking, freight and logistics.
Aurora will provide the hardware and software while PACCAR will provide the vehicles, transportation solutions and production support.
“This partnership brings us one step closer to unlocking the autonomous freight market and delivering goods to those who need them,” Aurora CEO and co-founder Chris Urmson said in a prepared statement.
The self-driving trucks are expected to be deployed in North America over the next several years. The collaboration is meant to improve freight efficiency and safety, PACCAR said in its announcement.
The application, which will go into PACCAR’s Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks, builds on Aurora’s previous work, chief product officer and co-founder Sterling Anderson said in a blog post. Many of Aurora’s test vehicles are already built on PACCAR’s trucks.
Aurora also announced Tuesday it had closed on its deal to acquire Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group, the company’s self-driving division that had headquarters in the Strip District and a test track in Hazelwood Green.
As part of the acquisition, which occurred in December, Aurora also inherited many of ATG’s employees and received a $400 million investment from Uber, bringing the company’s total value to $10 billion.
Now, Aurora has more than 1,600 people and doubled its locations, according to a spokesperson. The company has operations in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle and Mountain View, Calif., as well as Bozeman, Mont., Louisville, Colo., and Wixom, Mich.