Aurora Delivers: My Ride in the First Self-Driving Commercial Truck

Note: This blog post was written on April 27, 2025, after Aurora's first roundtrip driverless commercial haul between Dallas and Houston.

It’s a deeply surreal moment. I'm cruising down the highway at 65 miles per hour, not behind the wheel, but in the rear seat, watching the scenery unfold as a truckload of pastries are driven by the technology I helped create. It's novel. It's technically extraordinary. And yet, it's all pretty boring. The driving is smooth, courteous and predictable. And of course, that's exactly the way it should be.

Twenty-two years ago this week, I stood in the Atacama desert talking with my PhD advisor about competing in the DARPA Grand Challenge. I'd spent the last few weeks watching a robot drive around the desert slower than a toddler taking their first steps. There was a massive gap between our aspirations and our reality. The idea of having a robot drive at 50 mph seemed incredible, and making it happen would be a lot of fun. I thought if we did well it might lead somewhere. Even at my most optimistic, I would not have imagined the adventure ahead.

Since then, I've had the privilege of leading teams that raced robots across the desert and around airbases. I helped build house-sized off-highway haul trucks with my co-founder Drew Bagnell. And I founded two of the most successful companies in the AV space, Waymo and Aurora. 

Along the way, I've had a chance to work with an incredible set of people. People who I am proud to call friends and peers. People I've led have gone on to found or lead prominent companies in the autonomous vehicle space: Nuro, Stack, Argo, Kodiak, Waabi, Pony.ai, and of course Waymo and Aurora. While many of us are competitors at some level, we're united by a shared vision for how technology can make our roads safer and more efficient. We're all blazing a new trail. The people I've had a chance to work with have truly made it a joy to create a new industry.

But even with the incredible adventures I've had to date, today, April 27th, is special. Many years of hard work is paying off. Today I feel the joy and energy that comes with attempting something hard and accomplishing it with a team. It's a special feeling that anyone who has experienced it will know.

Today is the first day of commercial operations for the Aurora Driver. I may be in the truck, but I'm just a passenger. I'm passing the time by chatting with our team, drafting this blog, and watching YouTube. We’ve hauled a trailer south to Houston and are now hauling pastries back to Dallas. And it just works. It's not a harrowing adventure. There's no swashbuckling. I don't feel the need to kiss the ground when I get back to our terminal. We've carefully and thoughtfully designed and built a system that can safely drive an eighteen-wheeler down the highway. And riding in it feels just like it should: smooth and steady. But today is about so much more than the ride. It's a watershed moment. Our team knew we were on the right path, and had faith we would deliver. And now we have proof. We’ll always be focused on delivering the Aurora Driver safely, but now we also have a swagger and a confidence that you can feel. It’s no longer faith, it's the confidence that comes with having seen it happen, and knowing we can deliver, no matter the challenge. There's a glint in the eye that comes with knowing we have what it takes to deliver on our mission. It's something that will benefit us long after today.

We've never been here to do a demo, we're here to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly. And now we know what we believed: we have the team, the technology, the plan, and the partners to achieve something transformational. We need this technology. Our roads must be safer. Our logistics must be more sustainable. And our economy relies on a strong backbone of trucking.

Today, we're operating on public roads, with no one behind the wheel. We don't have a police escort. We haven't closed the road. We're driving safely and confidently in busy Houston traffic on one of the busiest roads in America. And we're going to do it again tomorrow, and the next day. And the day after that. 

Over the coming weeks, months and years, we'll continuously improve and expand our driverless operations. We'll work to make the Aurora Driver ever more useful for our customers and realize important safety and sustainability benefits. I'm jazzed about the next decade of work and the opportunity for what we've built at Aurora.

I'm going to take a moment, and value the work and dedication that got Aurora here. Most importantly, I'm going to celebrate and appreciate our team, our partners, and our investors. I can’t imagine a better group of people to be on this journey with.

Today we celebrate. Tomorrow we're on to unlocking Phoenix and the world beyond. It'll be a world where automated driving isn't just a vision, but it's a thriving, vital reality.

Chris