Companies are testing autonomous large vehicles on Texas highways right now. The goal is to replace truck drivers on at least some routes.
: [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION November 24, 2025: This story incorrectly refers to Aurora Innovation as Aurora Tech.]
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
AI has many people wondering if technology will take our jobs. Well, truck drivers, they've been asking this question for a long time. Yesterday we talked about how technology can make big rigs easier to manage. Today we told you the other side. Could technology take people out of the driver's seat altogether? NPR's Kamila Domonoske takes us on a ride through Texas in a self-driving truck.
KAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE: So now we're rolling down the highway. We're heading south from Dallas. AJ's hands are on his legs. Oh, now he has his hands behind his head.
(LAUGHTER)
DOMONOSKE: The steering wheel is adjusted slightly.
This is me in the cockpit of an 18-wheeler from Aurora Tech. And AJ is longtime truck driver AJ Jenkins (ph).
AJ Jenkins: Oh, I love driving. I really think so.
DOMONOSKE: Today, however, his feet were not on the pedals and his hands were not on the steering wheel. The truck drove itself. Jenkins used to be a driving instructor and kind of helped teach this truck to drive. He drove the car while the computer watched. And its models helped train this autonomous system, which the company calls the Aurora driver.
JENKINS: They took my driving logs, as well as other drivers' logs, trained the Aurora driver through simulation with our data, our manual data.
DOMONOSKE: Now it's the other way around. The computer drives the car while Jenkins watches. His official position is observer. I expected there to be screens everywhere showing what the truck could see with cameras and radar. But there should be no one in the cabin, so no screens.
(SOUND OF FLASHING LIGHTS CLICKING)
DOMONOSK: The truck turned on its turn signal.
JENKINS: We actually just moved to the left lane to make room for people merging.
DOMONOSKE: It gave the car more space.
JENKINS: We try to be the most polite truck on the road.
DOMONOSK: Aurora is one of several companies looking to make money from large self-driving cars. Texas is a hot spot for testing them. Aurora now delivers cargo along Texas highways: flooring, beverages and packages. Most drivers passing the truck probably don't notice the extra cameras or the word “autonomous” printed on the side of it.
JENKINS: It's just another truck.
DOMONOSK: At this point, with autonomous trucks traveling at high speeds on busy highways, you might have some questions about safety. Some truck drivers do just that.
AARON ISAACS: Computers don't work all the time. You know, there is no technology that works 100% all the time, every single day.
DOMONOSK: This is Aaron Isaacs, a member of the Teamsters union.
ISAACS: I mean, they can't even make cell phones that don't lose coverage every 20 miles on the freeway.
DOMONOSK: Aurora President Ossa Fischer says the truck is safer than a human driver thanks to redundant systems and extensive on-road and simulation testing.
OSSA FISCHER: We checked all possible problems with the truck or the surrounding area.
DOMONOSK: For truckers like Isaacs, besides safety, the other big issue is jobs.
ISAACS: So when you start kicking drivers off trucks, you're taking food off people's tables. You take the braces out of this kid's mouth.
DOMONOSK: That's not true, says Fisher, who says companies are already having trouble filling trucking jobs.
FISHER: If you are a truck driver today, you will be one and your services will be in demand until the day you decide to retire.
DOMONOSK: As a self-driving truck company, Aurora is currently focusing on very long highway trips, where driving is easier and having a driver who never sleeps is an advantage. But I asked Fisher, how much of trucking could be automated in the long term? Like, that's it?
FISHER: Of course, in the era of civilization, such vehicles will be completely autonomous. And we'll thank our lucky stars that we have them.
DOMONOSKE: But when in the arc of civilization? She wouldn't spend a year on this.
Camila Domonoske, NPR News.
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