Aurora Innovation, Inc. is the world’s foremost self-driving technology company. It’s already moved the football far downfield with its driverless trucking operations following its recent commercial launch. The company completed over 4,000 miles with a single self-driving truck, transporting freight for launch customers Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight. This milestone is significant from both an operational and financial standpoint, as it’s the first time Aurora will start to see revenue through its commercial activities.
Since the launch, Aurora has increased its presence to cover two driverless trucks per day on routine routes. The company expects to have “tens of trucks” in operation by the end of 2025. This move further cements its conviction to scale operations in the booming autonomous trucking industry.
Aurora’s commercial launch is not only about expanding its fleet but includes a revenue model that combines driverless revenue with ongoing pilot revenue. The company reported $871,000 in pilot revenue derived from drivered commercial freight runs. That’s up 22% from last quarter and a staggering 54% from this time last year.
“This will include driverless revenue, as well as continued pilot revenue… With our deliberate approach to launch, we expect our 2025 revenue to be modest, in the mid single digit millions. For modeling purposes, we expect revenue to build sequentially throughout the year.” – Source not specified
In the first quarter of 2023, Aurora stated that they had $211 million in operating expenses. From that, $153 million went directly to R&D. Just in the first quarter, the company burned through $142 million of operating cash and $8 million of capex. Aurora ended the quarter with close to $1.2 billion in cash and cash equivalents. That notable financial position allows for further investment and growth.
Aurora intends to broaden its driverless trucking routes outside of Dallas to Houston, El Paso and Phoenix. This expansion further strengthens the company’s long-term strategy to promote operational excellence. It aims to grow the number of miles driven by its fleet of trucks.
“We’d like to have a high return on asset for every truck that we have, and so we’ll try to drive efficiency to get as many miles on as many trucks as fast as possible,” – Dave Maday
Looking ahead, Aurora foresees a transition to a driver-as-a-service model, which aims to achieve high gross margins by enabling customers to purchase trucks directly from manufacturers starting in 2027 or earlier.
The company faces leadership changes as co-founder and chief product officer Sterling Anderson is set to leave the startup. These moves make for interesting questions going forward about strategy and innovation going forward at Aurora.
“We should be able to double our drive time as soon as we unlock night. And that’s our next key milestone.” – Dave Maday