Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) today announced a significant expansion of their strategic partnership with Hirschbach Motor Lines, including a plan for the carrier to own 500 Aurora Driver-powered trucks. The plan is reflected in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) outlining a path to scale with the final commercial terms and timing to be set in binding agreements expected to close later this year. The final deal will enable the carrier to aggressively scale its national network with 500 million driverless miles, while establishing a multi-year revenue stream for Aurora valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
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The Aurora Driver hauls a load of freight for Hirschbach in Texas (Credit: Aurora)
"The Aurora Driver will provide consistent 24/7 service to our customers, making it an important growth lever for our business," said Richard Stocking, CEO of Hirschbach Motor Lines. "But autonomy isn't just a business move – it's a quality-of-life investment for our people. The Aurora Driver will handle the lengthier, less desirable routes, providing our drivers with greater flexibility. It's a win-win."
"When early adopters see the benefits the Aurora Driver delivers for their business and their drivers, they don't just stay the course – they scale quickly," said Chris Urmson, co-founder and CEO of Aurora. "We've been lucky to have such a thoughtful and innovative partner since our early days and we look forward to growing with them. The industry is primed for this product, and our momentum toward meaningful commercial revenue is hitting a new gear."
Preparing for unprecedented commercial scale
The leader in moving refrigerated freight expressed its plan in the non-binding MOU to purchase 500 Aurora Driver-powered trucks with delivery beginning in 2027. The carrier will subscribe to Aurora's Driver as a Service (DaaS) model, which delivers mutual value for customers and Aurora. Customers have control and ownership over assets in DaaS, allowing them to maximize Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) savings while Aurora benefits from an expected high-margin and capital-efficient business.
Thoughtfully expanding its autonomous footprint
The 500 trucks will be deployed across Aurora's network with a focus on high-volume routes between customer facilities in the Sun Belt and beyond. In fact, Aurora recently transitioned to driverless deliveries to Laredo, Texas to support one of Hirschbach's key customers.
The carrier is also a key customer on Aurora's 1000-mile route between Fort Worth and Phoenix, a critical link for the carrier's coast-to-coast business. To date, the Aurora Driver has driven more than 800,000 miles while delivering over 2,000 loads for Hirschbach.
Hirschbach's expansion strategy anchors on a hybrid network where autonomous trucks handle long-haul routes, allowing traditional drivers to focus on shorter hauls that get them home daily. The carrier's million-mile drivers were instrumental in evaluating the performance of the Aurora Driver prior to the launch of driverless operations on Aurora's inaugural Dallas-to-Houston route.
"We're proud to deploy a hybrid network with our drivers and autonomous trucks as we move toward a safer, more efficient future for refrigerated freight," added Stocking.
About Aurora
Aurora (NASDAQ:AUR) is delivering the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly to make transportation safer, increasingly accessible, and more reliable and efficient than ever before. The Aurora Driver is a self-driving system designed to operate multiple vehicle types, from freight-hauling trucks to ride-hailing passenger vehicles, and underpins Aurora's driver as a service product for trucking. Aurora is working with industry leaders across the transportation ecosystem, including AUMOVIO, FedEx, Hirschbach, NVIDIA, PACCAR, Ryder, Schneider, Toyota, Uber, Uber Freight, Volvo Trucks, Volvo Autonomous Solutions, and Werner. To learn more, visit aurora.tech.
About Hirschbach Motor Lines, Inc.
Founded in 1935, Hirschbach Motor Lines, Inc. is an industry-leading truckload carrier delivering state-of-the-art transportation solutions for more than 90 years. Hirschbach, along with its recent acquisition of John Christner Trucking, LLC offers experienced, refrigerated truckload services to all 48 states along with dedicated transportation solutions and innovative brokerage, local, on-site and specialized services. With a fleet of 3000+ trucks, 5,500+ trailers, and multiple terminal locations, Hirschbach and John Christner Trucking continue to grow and expand into new service areas. For more information, visit www.hirschbach.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, those statements around our driverless operations and future financial and operating performance; our ability to meet customer demand, reduce costs and general expectations beyond that year; the benefits of integrating AI into our product; the safety benefits of our technology and product; our ability to achieve certain milestones around, and realize the potential benefits of, the development, manufacturing, scaling (including, but not limited to, the lane expansion strategy, the transition to our DaaS model, fleet size, fleet ownership, and our product's availability and capabilities) and commercialization of the Aurora Driver and related services (including, but not limited to, our ability to finalize and execute on customer contracts or orders, and whether customer intentions to order, such as Hirschbach's non-binding MOU result in binding agreements and orders), on the timeframe we expect or at all; our relationships with our partners and customers and anticipated benefits that they may derive from our product; the timing for developing, and the anticipated benefits of, future generations of hardware kits; the anticipated impact of our product on the freight industry and economy; the efficiency and effectiveness of our validation process and profitability of our products and services; the regulatory tailwinds and framework in which we operate and our ability to comply with the current and future regulatory framework; and our financial performance, anticipated investment in truck fleet and expected cash use and cash runway. Statements in this press release about Hirschbach's intent to purchase 500 Aurora Driver-powered trucks reflect current plans and discussions, as reflected in the non-binding MOU, and whether that intent is finalized and results in binding orders is subject to definitive documentation, which may not occur on the expected timeline, or at all. These statements are based on management's current assumptions and are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. For factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, please see the risks and uncertainties identified under the heading "Risk Factors" section of Aurora Innovation, Inc.'s ("Aurora") Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 11, 2026, and other documents filed by Aurora from time to time with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Additional information will also be set forth in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. All forward-looking statements reflect our beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. Aurora undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
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Press Contacts
Rachel Chibidakis
Head of Partner and Product Comms at Aurora
Mobile: 415-314-9392
Email: rchibidakis@aurora.tech