Aurora, McLeod Partnering on TMS for Autonomous Trucks
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Self-driving truck company Aurora and industry technology vendor McLeod Software have partnered for autonomous trucking operations.
The companies are connecting Aurora’s virtual driver technology with McLeod’s existing TMS platform to make it possible for trucking businesses to dispatch driverless trucks in a similar fashion to how they manage human-driven vehicles today.
This Aurora-McLeod software integration will make it easier for mutual customers to adopt autonomous trucks and pave the way for broader industry deployment of this emerging technology, the companies said Aug. 28 in a joint announcement.
McLeod plans to make this integration with the Aurora Driver available to its more than 1,200 customers in 2026. Beta testing is currently under way.
Aurora, which launched the industry’s first commercial driverless trucking service on public roads earlier this year in Texas, is increasingly shifting its focus from validating its technology to building customer adoption.
To help incorporate driverless trucks into current freight operations, Aurora is working with McLeod to enable motor carriers to access and manage autonomous capacity through the same software they are already using today for scheduling, dispatching and billing.
“Our partnership with McLeod marks a key next step in delivering a premium, customer-centric product and service,” said Aurora President Ossa Fisher. “By meeting customers where they are within their existing TMS, we’re making it easy for them to tap into the safety and efficiency benefits of autonomous trucks.”
Through this integration, shared customers will be able to utilize their McLeod TMS to manage processes such as load tender and acceptance of autonomous shipments, driverless truck dispatch and load monitoring.
“Integrating Aurora’s autonomous capabilities into our TMS platform provides our customers with a pathway to adopt autonomous tractors within their operations,” said Tom McLeod, founder and CEO of McLeod Software. “This collaboration underscores our dedication to providing cutting-edge technology for our customers, empowering them to optimize their operations and embrace innovation with confidence.”
Over time, the companies could enhance the integration with data points that are unique to autonomous vehicles.
Aurora said it will present more updates on the partnership at McLeod Software’s 2025 user conference, set for Sept. 21-23 in Denver.
Aurora began regularly hauling commercial freight between Dallas and Houston with driverless trucks earlier this year. (Aurora)
While Aurora has been testing self-driving Class 8 trucks on public highways for years with safety drivers behind the wheel as a backup, the company began regular driverless customer deliveries between Dallas and Houston in late April.
Since then, the company has added overnight service on that lane, illustrating the potential for driverless trucks to more than double asset utilization because they are not limited by driver hours-of-service restrictions.
Aurora has also opened a Phoenix terminal that is supporting an autonomous freight lane between that city and Fort Worth, Texas.
The company’s autonomous Class 8 trucks currently have observers sitting in the driver’s seat at the request of its manufacturing partner Paccar, but the Aurora Driver handles the entire driving task with no human intervention, Aurora has said.
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