DALLAS, June 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Uber Freight and Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ: AUR) are launching Premier Autonomy, a new program providing early access to over 1 billion of Aurora’s driverless miles to Uber Freight carriers through 2030. The program is the latest in their longstanding partnership to integrate and deploy autonomous trucks on the Uber Freight network to enable carriers of all sizes to improve utilization and enhance business efficiency through autonomous technology. Additionally, Uber Freight will be one of Aurora’s first customers on its Dallas-to-Houston freight route, with driverless hauls for shippers expected at the end of 2024.
“Uber Freight and Aurora see a tremendous opportunity to democratize autonomous trucks for carriers of all sizes, enabling them to drive more revenue, scale their fleets, and strengthen their bottom lines,” said Lior Ron, founder and chief executive officer of Uber Freight. “Autonomous trucks will make moving goods more efficient, and this industry-first program will help facilitate and accelerate the adoption of autonomous trucks with our carriers. We’re proud to work alongside the amazing team at Aurora to bring this technology into the hands of carriers and ultimately usher in a new era of logistics.”
Industry-First Premier Autonomy Program
To pave the way for Uber Freight carriers to begin driverless operations in the years to come, the companies are launching Premier Autonomy. The industry-first program offers carriers an early and streamlined path to purchase and onboard the Aurora Driver with benefits including:
- Subscription to the Aurora Driver for autonomous freight hauling.
- Opportunity to access over 1 billion driverless miles through 2030.
- High utilization of autonomous trucks via a planned, seamless integration of the Aurora Driver into the Uber Freight platform.
“With Uber Freight, we can provide hundreds of carriers priority access to autonomous truck capacity that they wouldn’t otherwise have. Working with carriers of all sizes is one of the many ways we will transform the industry and see thousands of driverless trucks on the road,” said Ossa Fisher, president of Aurora. “It’s exciting and validating that companies like Uber Freight are reserving our long-term capacity for their customers. We all see collective value in this offering.”
Strengthening the Bottom Line for Carriers of All Sizes
Premier Autonomy enables carriers of all sizes to utilize transformative technology to enhance their operations. Today, a human-driven truck takes two to three days to move freight from Dallas to Los Angeles. With the Aurora Driver, that trip has the potential to be completed in a single day. Aurora’s research indicates autonomous trucks have the promise of being up to 32% more energy efficient than traditional trucking by optimizing highway speeds, reducing deadhead miles and idling, increasing vehicle utilization and off-peak driving, programmed eco-driving, and more.
Uber Freight and Aurora have hauled millions of pounds of cargo since pilots began in 2020, unlocking critical learnings about how to effectively move goods autonomously. The companies are committed to a meticulous approach to driverless deployment, ensuring qualified carriers can seamlessly access dedicated capacity.
The scale and density of Uber Freight’s network, along with its marketplace technology and expertise, make it the preferred platform for autonomous truck deployment. Deep integration of the Aurora Driver into the Uber Freight network will create a seamless and familiar experience for customers. The Uber Freight network will also identify shippers with suitable freight for the Aurora Driver to optimize utilization.
For carriers interested in the Premier Autonomy Program, join the waitlist here. Visit the website to learn more about autonomous trucks on Uber Freight’s network.
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 Aurora and Uber Freight’s ability to achieve certain milestones around and realize the potential benefits of, the development, manufacturing, scaling and commercialization of the Aurora Driver and related services and technology and on the expected timeframe or at all; statements relating to the delivery timeline of the dedicated driverless truck capacity for carriers on the Uber Freight network; statements relating to anticipated market demand for, and cost efficiencies resulting from, autonomous trucking solutions; and statements regarding the impact of autonomous driving systems on customer operations, and the potential savings and opportunities Aurora’s products and services may offer to customers. These statements are based on current assumptions of Aurora’s and Uber Freight’s management 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’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on February 15, 2024, its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on May 9, 2024, and other documents filed by Aurora from time to time with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements reflect Aurora’s and Uber Freight’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. Aurora and Uber Freight undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
About Uber Freight
Uber Freight is a market-leading enterprise technology company powering intelligent logistics. With a suite of end-to-end logistics applications, managed services and an expansive carrier network, Uber Freight advances supply chains and moves the world’s goods. Today, the company manages over $18 billion of freight and one of the largest networks of carriers. It is backed by best-in-class investors including Greenbriar Equity Group and partnered with 1 in 3 Fortune 500 companies, including Del Monte Foods, Nestle, Anheuser-Busch InBev and more. For more, visit www.uberfreight.com.
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 products for trucking and ride-hailing. Aurora is working with industry leaders across the transportation ecosystem, including Continental, FedEx, Hirschbach, PACCAR, Ryder, Schneider, Toyota, Uber, Uber Freight, Volvo Trucks, Volvo Autonomous Solutions, and Werner. To learn more, visit aurora.tech.
For further information, please contact:
Sam Hallock
Email: [email protected]
425-241-8954
Rachel Chibidakis
Product and Partner Comms, Aurora
email: [email protected]
415-314-9392
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/00e4b0a0-0738-4e5f-886a-87e637597b45