Self-driving trucks are officially testing on California highways

Aurora Innovation and Kodiak AI, 2 companies processing self-driving trucks, person received permits from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to trial their autonomous conveyance exertion connected nationalist roads. And Kodiak has already started.

Kodiak said it is starting with a fistful of trial trucks successful California, chiefly astir its Mountain View office.

Both companies applied for investigating permits this outpouring nether updated rules approved by the California DMV, the bureau that regulates autonomous vehicles successful the state. Those rules, approved April 28, lifted a prohibition connected driverless vehicles weighing implicit 10,000 pounds from investigating connected nationalist roads and provided a regulatory way for companies to test, and yet deploy, autonomous heavy-duty vehicles.

Kodiak and Aurora met the DMV’s permitting criteria, including safety, insurance, conveyance registration, information operator qualification, and different requirements, according to the agency. The investigating permits necessitate a quality information relation to beryllium down the instrumentality and prohibit companies from operating connected roads wherever the posted velocity bounds is 25 miles per hr oregon less, unless they are connected a “direct route” betwixt destinations.

Despite those restrictions, the imaginable of self-driving trucks connected California’s highways continues to substance opposition.

Last week, Teamsters California sued the state’s DMV, alleging that the bureau circumvented laws requiring it to survey and publically disclose the imaginable economical impacts of allowing self-driving trucks connected nationalist roads. The lawsuit, filed successful the state’s Superior Court successful Alameda County, besides accused the DMV of failing to see the information risks to motorists.

For autonomous conveyance developers, the caller rules let them to trial and yet deploy successful their location territories.

Aurora and Kodiak are some are based successful California, but until precocious focused their investigating and deployment activities successful Texas due to the fact that of their home-state’s prohibition connected autonomous heavy-duty trucks. Aurora launched a self-driving motortruck service successful Texas successful May 2025, starting with a Dallas-to-Houston route. The institution has added much routes since, including between Fort Worth and El Paso, El Paso and Phoenix, Fort Worth and Phoenix, and Laredo and Dallas.

Kodiak began commercial driverless motortruck operations successful January 2025 successful an off-road situation successful West Texas’ distant Permian Basin. Kodiak has since expanded to on-highway operations, including a way betwixt Dallas and Houston.