DALLAS - Charger Logistics, a carrier that hauls freight across the United States and Mexico, intends to buy up to 500 trucks fitted with Aurora Innovation's self-driving system, the two companies said on Monday. The trucks would be delivered over 2027 and 2028 under a memorandum of understanding that is not binding.
Charger plans to put the trucks on current and new high-volume routes near the border and across the country. In its third-quarter letter to shareholders, Aurora said the carrier would start between Dallas and Laredo, Texas, one of Charger's busiest freight routes in the Sun Belt, and described the arrangement as a potential multiyear revenue stream in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The memorandum builds on a contract Charger signed with Aurora in July. Under a final agreement, Charger would own the trucks and pay Aurora a subscription for its self-driving software and support, a model the company calls Driver as a Service. Aurora has said such deals are central to its plan to run 30,000 driverless trucks in 2030.
"Since launching autonomous operations along the Laredo corridor, we've realized immediate operational benefits that point to a clear path to scaling," Andy Khera, Charger's president, said in the announcement.
"Owning the physical asset is the logical choice for our customers: it makes today's operations more efficient and enables carriers to grow their business, keeping them competitive," said Zac Andreoni, Aurora's vice president of business development.
Aurora cautioned that the memorandum may not lead to a final agreement or binding orders on the expected timeline, or at all. No price was disclosed. Trucking Dive reported that Charger added driverless truck capacity on the Dallas-Laredo route through its earlier Aurora deal in July.
Charger is not tied to a single developer. Earlier this month the carrier and Kodiak AI said trucks fitted with Kodiak's system had begun hauling freight for Charger between Dallas and Laredo, with a safety driver still behind the wheel.
Aurora's own fleet is still small. The company reported third-quarter revenue of $3 million and said a production ramp running about six weeks behind its earlier plan had cut its 2026 revenue forecast to about $9 million. It expects to pass 200 trucks by the end of February and to reach a steady production rate of about 20 trucks a week by early December, and it said it remained on track to finish 2027 with more than 1,000 driverless trucks in operation.
