Aurora’s self-driving trucks can now travel non-stop on a 1,000-mile route between Fort Worth and Phoenix — more than what a human driver can legally do.

The distance, and the time it takes to travel, offers positive financial implications for Aurora — and any other company hoping to commercialize self-driving semitrucks.

It takes Aurora about 15 hours to carry a load of its driverless trucks on a 1,000-mile trip, according to the company. Human truck drivers take longer to complete the same distance because of federal regulations that limit how long they can be behind the wheel. For example, truck drivers must stop for a 30-minute break after eight hours and can operate a semitruck for a maximum of 11 hours at a time, according to federal regulations. Once drivers hit the threshold, they won’t be able to get behind the wheel for another 10 hours.

“This represents more than a technological breakthrough,” said Aurora co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson during the company’s earnings call Wednesday afternoon. “This is the dawn of a superhuman future for cargo.”

It also offers compelling economics to its customers, which include Uber Freight, Werner, FedEx, and Schneider. The company says it could eventually cut travel times nearly in half, a statistic that won over companies like Hirschbach, an early customer on the Fort Worth-to-Phoenix route.

Aurora said in a letter to shareholders that it is poised to expand across the Sun Belt of the United States. Today, the company operates driverless trucks — some with a human observer still in the cab — on routes between Dallas and Houston, Fort Worth and El Paso, El Paso and Phoenix, Fort Worth and Phoenix, and Laredo and Dallas.

The expansion helped Aurora transition from a developer of autonomous trucks to a commercial operator that makes money on its driverless routes.

Aurora brings the income since April 2025 at first deployed driverless, heavy trucks for commercial use on public roads. Aurora reported $1 million in the fourth quarter and $3 million for the year, according to a report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The company’s CFO, David Maday, said total adjusted revenue for the year, which includes money raised through pilot programs early last year, was $4 million.

That’s a small number, especially compared to its costs. Aurora reported a net loss of $816 million in 2025, up 9% from last year as it focuses on scaling its operations. However, it shows a measurable improvement from 2024, when it does not recognize any income.

Revenue is expected to continue as the company adds more trucks and driverless routes to its network. Today, the company has 30 trucks in its fleet, 10 of which operate without a driver. That fleet is expected to grow to more than 200 trucks by the end of the year. Urmson said the company’s trucks have racked up 250,000 driverless miles by January 2026 with a perfect safety record.

In the second quarter, Aurora plans to deploy a fleet of International Motors LT driverless trucks, with no human observers on board. Aurora’s driverless operations using Paccar trucks currently have a human safety observer in the cab as requested by the truck manufacturer.

Urmson takes a bullish view of Aurora’s future, fueled by advances in self-driving software, an upcoming second-generation hardware kit that will lower costs, and expansion of driverless routes. The expansion of driverless truck routes has been initiated by a new software release, the fourth since the launch of the commercial service in April 2025.

The first release validated initial driverless operations between Dallas and Houston, the second validated night operations, and the third validated El Pasoaccording to Aurora. The company says this latest software release will give its self-driving system navigation capabilities in the diverse geography and climate of the southern United States.

“As the last two years have brought robotaxis into the mainstream, we expect 2026 to mark the inflection point where the market recognizes that self-driving trucks have arrived and quickly become a permanent fixture in our transportation landscape,” Urmson said on the company’s earnings call. “If you’re in the Sun Belt in 2026, you won’t just read about the Aurora driver. You’ll see it every day.”

Aurora currently operates driverless routes through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and has future driverless operations planned for Nevada, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, the company said.