Aurora Innovation shares jumped in US-trading yesterday after announcing it has materially expanded its agreement with refrigerated freight specialist Hirschbach Motor Lines, with the carrier signalling its intent to put 500 Aurora AV trucks on the road.
The non-binding MOU sets out a path for deliveries to begin in 2027, with binding terms expected to land later this year.
“The Aurora Driver will provide consistent 24/7 service to our customers, making it an important growth lever for our business,” said Richard Stocking, CEO of Hirschbach Motor Lines.
“But autonomy isn’t just a business move – it’s a quality-of-life investment for our people. The Aurora Driver will handle the lengthier, less desirable routes, providing our drivers with greater flexibility. It’s a win-win.”
For Aurora, this means potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in multi-year revenue and around 500 million driverless miles, representing a step-change in commercial traction.
For the autonomous vehicle industry, the deal is a major step towards broader mainstream adoption, paving the way not only for Aurora’s continued expansion but also for the technology’s adoption across a variety of self-driving applications.
Hirschbach will subscribe to Aurora’s Driver as a Service model, under which the carrier owns the trucks while Aurora collects recurring revenue from the autonomy stack.
The 500 trucks will be deployed across high-volume Sun Belt corridors, with Aurora having recently extended driverless deliveries into Laredo, Texas in support of one of Hirschbach’s key customers.
Aurora Innovation, one of the UK Investor Magazine’s top stock picks for 2026, closed 15% higher yesterday.