Charger Logistics and Aurora to Begin Scaling Autonomous Fleet to 500 Trucks

Charger intends to own the trucks and subscribe to Aurora's Driver as a Service model upon a final agreement.

See more from StockTitan in Google Search and AI answers. Adds StockTitan as a preferred source · opens Google

Add on Google Not now

Charger initiates plans to own and operate hundreds of driverless trucks on routes across the country, months after its initial Aurora contract

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ: AUR), the leader in self-driving freight, today announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Charger Logistics under which Charger intends to purchase up to 500 Aurora Driver-powered trucks. The agreement builds upon Charger’s existing contract signed in July, underscoring the carrier’s belief that the Aurora Driver will be critical to expanding its network and strengthening its business.

An Aurora Driver-powered truck hauling freight for Charger Logistics with no one behind the wheel in Texas. Charger plans to purchase up to 500 Aurora driverless trucks. Credit: Aurora

“Since launching autonomous operations along the Laredo corridor, we’ve realized immediate operational benefits that point to a clear path to scaling,” said Andy Khera, President of Charger Logistics. “Aurora’s plans to open long-haul, high-volume routes position us to scale geographically while we integrate autonomy from our TMS to the road, building a resilient and autonomous ecosystem for our customers."

“Andy and the team have decades of experience leveraging technology to move large volumes of freight across the continent, which makes owning driverless trucks a natural next step,” said Zac Andreoni, Vice President of Business Development at Aurora. “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.”

Path to Owning 500 Driverless Trucks

Charger Logistics operates across the U.S. and Mexico, moving goods for the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, automotive, and retail industries. Under the non-binding MOU, the carrier would purchase 500 Aurora Driver-powered trucks with delivery taking place over 2027 and 2028. Charger plans to deploy the trucks on current and new high-volume routes near the border and throughout the country.

Upon the final agreement, Charger intends to subscribe to Aurora’s Driver as a Service (DaaS) model, where ownership over the physical asset allows them to maximize Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) savings. In parallel, Aurora benefits from an expected high-margin, capital-efficient, and asset-light business. DaaS agreements are a critical component to Aurora’s plan to scale to 30,000 driverless trucks in 2030. Additional Aurora customers are pursuing DaaS contracts to own and operate their own fleets of driverless trucks, demonstrating both the demand for autonomous trucks at scale and the confidence customers have in Aurora to deliver.

“With the launch of our second-generation hardware and trucks, Aurora is ready to support our customers' ambitions to grow their networks and move more freight with driverless trucks,” added Andreoni.

About Aurora

Aurora (Nasdaq: AUR) is delivering the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly to make transportation safer, increasingly accessible, and more reliable and efficient than ever before. The Aurora Driver is a self-driving system designed to operate multiple vehicle types, from freight-hauling trucks to ride-hailing passenger vehicles, and underpins Aurora's driver as a service product for trucking. Aurora is working with industry leaders across the transportation ecosystem, including AUMOVIO, FedEx, Hirschbach, McLane, NVIDIA, PACCAR, Ryder, Schneider, Toyota, Uber, Uber Freight, Volvo Trucks, Volvo Autonomous Solutions, and Werner. To learn more, visit aurora.tech.

About Charger Logistics

Charger Logistics USA is a privately held, asset-based transportation and logistics company operating across the United States and Mexico. Charger provides truckload, dedicated, temperature-controlled, and cross-border services, supported by a warehousing and cold storage network that enables end-to-end management of the full supply chain ecosystem. Charger operates on a proprietary transportation management system and a suite of in-house applications, delivering real-time visibility, execution, and data-driven decision-making across its network. Charger serves customers in food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, automotive, retail, and consumer products. To learn more, visit chargerlogistics.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, those statements regarding the prospects of the development, manufacturing, scaling (including, but not limited to, Aurora’s lane expansion strategy, the transition to DaaS model, fleet size, fleet ownership, and Aurora’s product’s availability and capabilities) and commercialization of the Aurora Driver and Aurora’s autonomous driving technology, and realization of their anticipated benefits (including expected Total Cost of Ownership savings, margin and capital efficiency expectations); Aurora’s relationships and anticipated benefits with customers, including whether Charger Logistics’ non-binding MOU results in a final agreement and binding orders on the anticipated timeframe or at all, and risks that anticipated customer orders may not materialize, may be delayed, and/or customer contracts may be subject to cancellation, termination, or reduction in scope; and the anticipated purchase, delivery and deployment of 500 Aurora Driver-powered trucks over 2027 and 2028.

These statements are based on management’s current assumptions and are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. For factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, please see the risks and uncertainties identified under the heading “Risk Factors” in Aurora Innovation, Inc.’s (“Aurora”) Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 11, 2026, and in Aurora’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, as well as other documents filed by Aurora from time to time with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements reflect our beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. Aurora undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances, except as required by law.

Aurora Overview
Aurora Press Kit

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261026473142/en/

Investor Relations:
Stacy Feit
ir@aurora.tech

Media:
press@aurora.tech

Source: Aurora Innovation, Inc.

Key Terms

memorandum of understanding regulatory

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) is a formal agreement between two or more parties that outlines their shared intentions and plans to work together. It acts like a handshake in writing, clarifying each side’s roles and expectations before any official contract is signed. For investors, an MOU signals that parties are serious about collaboration, which can influence future business opportunities and potential growth.

total cost of ownership financial

The total cost of ownership is the full lifetime expense of acquiring and keeping an asset or product, not just its sticker price — it includes purchase, installation, operating, maintenance, financing and disposal costs. For investors, it reveals the real economic burden or savings of a purchase so they can judge profitability, cash flow and competitive strength; like comparing cars by adding fuel, insurance and repairs, not just the sale price.