Aurora Innovation signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Charger Logistics on Monday and is moving full speed ahead on its commercial growth strategy. Under the proposed arrangement, the carrier will seek to purchase up to 500 trucks equipped with Aurora’s self-driving technology, to be delivered over 2027 and 2028.
The agreement follows a contract Charger signed in July to start driverless freight operations between Dallas and Laredo, Texas. That first agreement set the stage for a deployment of autonomous trucks on a major cross-border freight corridor.
If the companies sign a definitive agreement, Charger would own the vehicles and pay Aurora for autonomous driving services under its Driver as a Service (DaaS) model. That approach is at the heart of Aurora’s long-term plan to have over 30,000 driverless trucks in carrier-owned fleets by 2030.
Aurora is targeting more than 200 trucks in its autonomous fleet by the end of February, although its production ramp-up is about six weeks behind schedule. The company still expects to have more than 1,000 trucks on the road by the end of 2027.
The proposed transaction also follows a similar initiative announced in April when Hirschbach Motor Lines signed a nonbinding MOU to own 500 Aurora-powered autonomous trucks under the same business model.
For Charger, the planned growth follows the operational benefits seen in the first months of autonomous trucking on the Laredo corridor.
“Since going live with autonomous operations on the Laredo corridor, we’ve seen immediate operational benefits that point to a clear path to scale,” said Charger Logistics President Andy Khera.
“It will help Charger expand its geographical reach, as well as integrate its autonomous operations into its transportation management system (TMS) and road network,” he said, adding that Aurora’s plans to offer long-haul, high-volume routes would help do that. The aim is to build a strong, self-sufficient ecosystem for its customers.
A shift to carrier-owned autonomous trucks
The proposed Charger transaction signals a shift in how Aurora plans to commercialize its autonomous trucking technology.
In Aurora’s third-quarter shareholder letter, the company said that Charger’s July deal is under a Transport as a Service, or TaaS, model. In this setup, Aurora owns and runs the trucks and bills customers about $2 a mile, which includes a fuel surcharge.
Driver as a Service is a different animal. The carrier buys the actual vehicles and pays Aurora for the autonomous driving service. The carrier passes ownership duties to Aurora, but retains access to the company’s tech.
Aurora expects to make at least $0.85 per mile on each truck under the model. The company expects its self-driving vehicles to drive around 250,000 miles each year.
Aurora describes the Charger deal in its shareholder letter as a potential multi-year revenue stream worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But neither company has said what the per-mile rate would be in a final agreement.
Carrier ownership, the company says, is a practical way to scale up autonomous freight operations while still letting customers keep control of their fleets.
The logical choice for our customers is to own the physical asset, making today’s operations more efficient and enabling carriers to grow their business and stay competitive. – Zac Andreoni, Aurora’s vise president of business development.
Commercial commitments remain subject to negotiations
Despite the scale of the proposed order, the agreement remains nonbinding. Aurora’s announcement explicitly warns that the MOU may not result in a definitive agreement or binding purchase orders within the anticipated timeframe, or at all.
The distinction is important as the company continues to develop its commercial model and work toward sustainable profitability.
In September, Aurora revised its target for achieving gross margin breakeven on a run-rate basis. The company now expects to reach that milestone in the first half of 2027, when its fleet is projected to comprise approximately 500 trucks, rather than by the end of 2026.
Questions about the economics of autonomous trucking also remain among existing customers. Werner Enterprises, another Aurora customer, was still negotiating commercial terms in September.
During a customer panel at Aurora’s Analyst and Investor Day in Dallas on September 23, Werner Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer Daragh Mahon acknowledged the gap between the parties’ expectations.
“And I will be quite honest that we have a gap. We’ve got to figure this out,” Mahon said.
These discussions underline the importance of establishing commercial terms that can support broader adoption as autonomous trucking moves toward larger-scale deployment.
#4 on FreightTech 25 – Aurora
The announcement came as Aurora was named in the 2027 FreightTech 25 rankings, released by FreightWaves at the F3 Awards Dinner in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This year, Aurora finished fourth, compared to second in the 2026 ranking.
Autonomous trucking firms increased their presence on the list with four operators in 2027, up from three in the previous year.
No. 12 was Kodiak AI, followed by Aurora at No. 4, Torc Robotics at No. 19 and Waabi at No. 20.
The rankings reflect the increasing visibility of autonomous freight technology in the broader transportation and logistics sector, as companies strive to establish commercial operations and grow their customer bases.
Charger to Expand Autonomous Operations Across Network
Charger Logistics is a privately held asset based transportation company with operations throughout the United States and Mexico.
Charger Logistics USA, its U.S. subsidiary, listed 481 power units and 542 drivers in its Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration registration, last updated in October 2025.
If the order for 500 Aurora trucks is delivered to Charger as proposed, it would exceed the number of power units listed for its U.S. operation now.
The carrier said it plans to deploy the autonomous vehicles on existing and new high-volume routes, including those near the U.S.-Mexico border and across the country.
Aurora’s next-generation autonomous hardware and trucks will help customers grow their networks and move more freight without drivers behind the wheel, the company says.
“Aurora is ready to support our customers’ ambitions to grow their networks and move more freight with driverless trucks with the launch of our second-generation hardware and trucks,” said Andreoni.
That planned rollout would be a major boost to Charger’s autonomous trucking push, though the final size will be dictated by a binding agreement and the proposed purchase schedule being put in place.
Why the deal matters to the logistics industry
Under the proposed deal, Aurora would pass the cost of buying autonomous trucks to Charger Logistics but would still be able to generate revenue from its driving technology and services.
The deal may accelerate the adoption of self-driving vehicles into Charger’s freight network. If the entire order is filled, the 500 trucks would be a fleet that exceeds the number of power units currently listed to its U.S. subsidiary.
The deal would support Aurora’s strategy of expanding with carrier-owned vehicles rather than relying solely on trucks the tech company owns and operates.
However, the MOU is still a preliminary commitment. The commercial impact will be determined finally by whether the parties sign the agreement, issue binding purchase orders and deliver the planned vehicles in 2027 and 2028.
