Why trucks first
A highway is an easier operational design domain than a city: no pedestrians, no cyclists, predictable geometry, and long stretches where nothing happens. Trucking also has a business case that does not depend on ride prices: a truck that drives through the night without hours-of-service limits earns more, and the industry reports chronic driver shortages on the least pleasant long-haul routes. That is why several companies bet that the first profitable driverless operation would haul freight between depots on the edge of town.
Who is on the road
Aurora, founded by veterans of Google, Tesla and Uber, began regular driverless freight runs between Dallas and Houston in May 2025, the first heavy trucks in commercial service with nobody in the cab, and has extended toward El Paso and Phoenix. Kodiak Robotics runs driverless trucks on private roads for an oilfield customer and on Texas highways. Others, including Plus and Waabi, are working with truck makers to build the automated driver into the vehicle from the factory rather than retrofitting it.
The hard parts
A truck takes far longer to stop than a car, so it must see and decide from much farther away: Aurora built its own long-range lidar for the purpose. Roadside inspections and warning triangles assume a driver who can get out; federal rules were only recently clarified to allow cab-mounted warning beacons instead. Weather closes highways. And the depots at each end, where goods are transferred to human-driven trucks for the last miles, need a whole new logistics layer.
The regulatory map
Texas allows driverless trucks under a 2017 state law with no special permit, which is why the industry concentrated there. California, by contrast, did not permit heavy driverless trucks on its roads for years and only began drafting rules after several delays. Federal law governs the trucks themselves and their safety equipment but leaves the question of whether a driver is required to the states, so the map of where a truck may run without one is a patchwork.
Frequently asked questions
Are there really trucks with nobody in them on the highway?
Yes. Aurora has run commercial freight between Dallas and Houston with no human aboard since May 2025, and Kodiak runs driverless trucks in Texas as well. Both operations are limited to specific routes and conditions.
Will driverless trucks replace truck drivers?
Not soon, and not entirely. The first operations cover long highway segments between depots; the first and last miles, urban deliveries and anything off the main corridors still need a driver. Most forecasts see a change in the job before a fall in the number of them.