LANCASTER, Texas — An autonomous tractor-trailer headed down Interstate 20, safely merged into heavy traffic and later slowed to 48 mph when it approached a car stopped on the freeway’s shoulder.
Kodiak Robotics safety driver Robert Roland’s hands hovered over the steering wheel, prepared to intervene if needed, while the company’s technology navigated traffic, hazards and ramps—as well as local roads near its terminal—by during a morning test drive near Dallas last month.
“It’s a whole different world,” said the third-generation truck driver.
As Kodiak Robotics and Aurora Innovation prepare to operate their self-driving vehicles on public roads without safety drivers, which could happen later this year in Texas, Trucking Dive visited the companies’ locations to get a first-hand look at their progress toward full autonomy.
Autonomous trucks have been hauling customer cargo in tests on public roads under the supervision of safety operators like Roland, and the ride gave a glimpse of the trucks’ potential readiness for real-world driving scenarios.
“They drive defensively. They drive cautiously,” said Kodiak Director of External Affairs Daniel Goff.
A Kodiak truck is parked May 17 at its operations center in Lancaster, Texas. The company is preparing to remove safety drivers from its commercial freight operations.
David Taube/Trucking Dive
Emphasis on safety first, “PERIOD”
The Kodiak’s system is designed to be kind to other drivers, slowing down and letting vehicles merge.
“The system is designed to treat unknown objects as a human would: with extra care,” Goff said.
![A close-up view of a Kodiak truck, showing the sensors mounted on the mirror.](https://www.truckingdive.com/imgproxy/TL6e6ZDjEMv88kPBbZ-RE0ANewYKGchO0dhWDfuLYqI/g:ce/rs:fit:1511:1888/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL0lNR18wODY2LTEuanBn.webp)
![A close-up view of a Kodiak truck, showing the sensors mounted on the mirror.](https://www.truckingdive.com/imgproxy/TL6e6ZDjEMv88kPBbZ-RE0ANewYKGchO0dhWDfuLYqI/g:ce/rs:fit:1511:1888/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL0lNR18wODY2LTEuanBn.webp)
The company’s fourth-generation trucks currently carry most of its commercial cargo.
David Taube/Trucking Dive
At the company’s operations center in Lancaster, Texas, Chief Operating Officer Don Lepard pointed to a map on a wall showing routes where Kodiak has delivered cargo to a customer for revenue. A lowercase “k” appears in places throughout California, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas.
On another wall, a message reads, “Safety first and always. PERIOD.”
In nearby Palmer, Texas, Aurora staff focuses on security efforts at a busy AV terminal as well as the company’s technology.
Aurora trucks can operate in fog and light rain and have strong capabilities even in torrential rains, president Ossa Fisher said in an interview there.
But growth on ice and snow can take a few years, he said. Fisher likened the self-driving truck precautions to when airlines decide not to fly because of dangerous weather.
“We think this will really increase road safety,” he said, “because right now, there are trucks on the road and conditions that really nobody should be driving.”
At the Mid-America Trucking Show in March in Kentucky, Aurora senior safety specialist Bryan Jones highlighted the company’s emphasis on safety, noting that efforts seek to promote continuous improvement.
Aurora believes it “can always be safer and is always trying” to improve the company and its technology, he said.
The company is developing a security case and reported its stand-alone preparedness measure it was 95% complete from mid-April. Aurora pursues it do 100%.
![An Aurora tractor-trailer on a highway ahead of traffic.](https://www.truckingdive.com/imgproxy/shoPcL2wGwdUgBBafUtlqP-y5Syp6Na79y1arw-ZjYY/g:ce/rs:fit:1600:0/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL0F1cm9yYV9Ib3Jpem9uX0F1dG9ub21vdXNfVHJ1Y2tpbmdfLV9QQlQtNTc5X0hpZ2h3YXlfMi5qcGc=.webp)
![An Aurora tractor-trailer on a highway ahead of traffic.](https://www.truckingdive.com/imgproxy/shoPcL2wGwdUgBBafUtlqP-y5Syp6Na79y1arw-ZjYY/g:ce/rs:fit:1600:0/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL0F1cm9yYV9Ib3Jpem9uX0F1dG9ub21vdXNfVHJ1Y2tpbmdfLV9QQlQtNTc5X0hpZ2h3YXlfMi5qcGc=.webp)
An Aurora tractor-trailer navigates traffic on the highway. The company’s lidar can see over 400 meters away.
Courtesy of Aurora
Run operations now and in the future
Like Kodiak, Aurora uses pairs of people to ride in the trucks, and Aurora experts like Zach Riley monitor the technology with a laptop in the truck to see how the system observes the environment, traffic and hazards.
Riley noted how a sensor on Aurora’s lidar, short for light detection and ranging, can see objects over 400 meters away. On a recent trip, the technology saw through the fog and recognized and responded to oncoming traffic before Riley could even see it, he recalled.
With the technology’s ability to improve a vehicle’s navigation in traffic environments, Riley likens it to a superpower. He said he wished he could technology in his own car.
Proponents of the technology say there will still be work for drivers even after autonomous features are implemented.
At Aurora’s terminals, CDL holders perform Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspections before trucks are loaded each day.
“We will always need and use truck drivers,” Jones told MATS.
He noted that with all the moving parts in terminals, there’s always risk, but company staff “also believe we can manage risk by applying smart solutions that we’ve seen work in other venues.”
Jones also said security training isn’t just a one-time session that’s never reviewed: Instead, he and Aurora’s security team visit the terminals regularly to make sure the training is fresh.
![A blue Aurora autonomous truck inside a maintenance building.](https://www.truckingdive.com/imgproxy/f-ppiiq6NcO7UtmcbppZ-Q78FNz2a92cWtlUUncYw4I/g:ce/rs:fit:1600:0/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL0lNR18wODA2LkpQRw==.webp)
![A blue Aurora autonomous truck inside a maintenance building.](https://www.truckingdive.com/imgproxy/f-ppiiq6NcO7UtmcbppZ-Q78FNz2a92cWtlUUncYw4I/g:ce/rs:fit:1600:0/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL0lNR18wODA2LkpQRw==.webp)
An autonomous Aurora truck in a maintenance bay on May 8, 2024. The terminal already has multi-brand trailers.
David Taube/Trucking Dive
Safety assessments continue to unfold
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has asked those involved in autonomous businesses to provide details of crashes, helping to track the companies’ safety record through a public database.
Incidents do not necessarily mean that an autonomous vehicle was at fault, and the database has provided details of incidents for nearly three years since April 15 this year. Manufacturers and operators must report the information to NHTSA.
Kodiak, which recently logged 3 million miles of real-world operations with its technology, has reported only three incidents. All incidents occurred when the trucks were operated by a driver in manual mode and no injuries were reported.
In an October 2023 incident on a highway in Fort Worth, a Kodiak truck was traveling 34 mph by a safety driver while a Class 8 semi entered his lane, the company said in an NHTSA summary. Minor contact scratched a SensorPod mounted on the mirror and the AV safety driver was pulled.
![A Kodiak truck with an open hood inside a terminal located at a warehouse and office complex in the Dallas area.](https://www.truckingdive.com/imgproxy/lZomSXqJfDsPhT_7ShTUYB6xbQV-ibt5YAwZBNrgYP0/g:ce/rs:fit:1600:0/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL0lNR18wODgxX1dtUW1aVncuanBn.webp)
![A Kodiak truck with an open hood inside a terminal located at a warehouse and office complex in the Dallas area.](https://www.truckingdive.com/imgproxy/lZomSXqJfDsPhT_7ShTUYB6xbQV-ibt5YAwZBNrgYP0/g:ce/rs:fit:1600:0/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL0lNR18wODgxX1dtUW1aVncuanBn.webp)
A truck inside Kodiak Robotics’ terminal in Lancaster, Texas on May 17. Operations Manager Don Lepard notes that the company’s mirror-mounted sensors are easily replaceable for maintenance crews.
David Taube/Trucking Dive
The NHTSA crash database lists six Aurora incidents, most of which occurred while the vehicle was operating autonomously, according to crash summaries. As with the Kodiak, none of these or accidents reported injuries.
A crash in March on a west Texas highway documented how technology can handle problems. An Aurora truck was traveling autonomously at 64 mph when a car drifted into the truck’s lane and collided with the left rear of the trailer, according to an NHTSA summary. Both vehicles eventually managed to leave the scene.
However, the potential for more dangerous situations is a concern for truck drivers.
“We’d like to see as much restriction and oversight as we see on proven drivers,” said Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association EVP Lewie Pugh, noting how a top-performing trucker can drive millions of miles with security.
The public should not be guinea pigs in road trials, an OIDA spokesperson said in an email.
Werner Enterprises vice president of Van and Expedited Chad Dittberner said setting a safety standard is a difficult issue to address, noting that the carrier has over 600 drivers currently having traveled over 1 million miles without a single accident.
Dittberner, a member of the Kodiak Industry Advisory Council, said safety is Werner’s priority for AVs and the rest of his fleet.
“The ultimate goal is a truck that is never involved in an accident,” he said, “which is the same goal we have with our drivers today.”