North Texas highways are already crowded with commercial trucks moving freight between warehouses, distribution centers, and cities across the country. Over the next five years, many more of those trucks could be operating without anyone behind the wheel.
At a recent infrastructure summit in Irving, an executive at autonomous trucking company Aurora predicted that thousands of driverless tractor-trailers could operate on Texas roads by 2031.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Aurora had about 100 vehicles operating through its North Texas network as of September, with plans to double that number by the end of 2026. The company has terminals in Palmer, south of Dallas, and Aledo, west of Fort Worth, and has begun operating some trucks without human drivers on designated routes.
Autonomous trucks could move freight more efficiently, cut delivery costs, and reduce crashes caused by fatigued or distracted drivers. But as these vehicles become more common on highways shared by families, commuters, and other commercial drivers, how do we know they're safe?
The Safety Challenges of Driverless Trucks
Computers don't fall asleep, get distracted by phones, or drive under the influence. Autonomous trucking companies point to those differences as reasons their technology could prevent some of the serious accidents caused by human error.
But removing the driver introduces a different set of challenges.
An autonomous truck must recognize sudden traffic changes, respond to unexpected merges, navigate construction zones, and adjust to heavy rain and other hazardous conditions. Its cameras, sensors, software, and braking systems must work together to make decisions that human drivers routinely face.
Waymo vehicles navigating flooded roads and construction zones have already shown some of the difficulties automated systems can encounter. Although those incidents involved passenger vehicles rather than tractor-trailers, they raise questions about how driverless trucks will respond when road conditions change unexpectedly. A failure to recognize a hazard or respond appropriately could have serious consequences on busy highways where tractor-trailers travel alongside smaller vehicles.
Aurora says its newer trucks have backup braking, steering, power, and communication systems designed to prevent equipment failures from causing accidents. Determining how safely these vehicles perform will require more than the information their developers provide.
What the Safety Data Tells Us So Far
Aurora reported more than six million autonomous miles in Texas as of September. But that figure doesn't tell us how its safety record compares with conventional trucking. A reliable comparison would need to account for how many miles were traveled without a human driver, the types of roads involved, and the circumstances of reported crashes.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires certain manufacturers and operators to report crashes involving automated driving systems. The agency cautions against using its crash-reporting database to make direct safety comparisons without accounting for differences in vehicle use, miles traveled, and reporting practices.
For now, there isn't enough publicly available evidence to establish that driverless tractor-trailers are safer than trucks operated by human drivers in commercial service.
As North Texas becomes a center for autonomous trucking, the information collected from vehicles operating here could play an important role in evaluating the technology's safety.
Texas Laws Governing Driverless Trucks
Texas has established rules governing autonomous vehicles. Under legislation passed in 2025, companies operating fully driverless commercial vehicles must obtain state authorization and meet applicable safety and insurance requirements. Operators must also provide plans explaining how emergency responders can communicate with fleet support personnel and safely handle disabled vehicles.
The Texas Transportation Code recognizes an automated driving system as the vehicle's operator when the system is engaged. A qualifying autonomous vehicle can therefore operate legally without a human driver present.
Federal regulations are also evolving. In October, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration granted Aurora and other qualifying autonomous trucking operators a five-year exemption allowing flashing warning lights mounted on truck cabs instead of the reflective triangles traditionally placed around stopped trucks. The agency determined that the lights could provide an equivalent or greater level of safety, subject to certain conditions. The exemption addresses one challenge of operating trucks without drivers, but others remain.
As self-driving vehicles become more common in Texas, law enforcement officers may encounter vehicles that can't respond to traffic stops or emergencies in the same way human drivers would. For commercial trucks, that could mean a disabled tractor-trailer blocking a highway or a vehicle failing to follow directions from emergency personnel.
How well these regulations work in practice will become clearer as driverless fleets expand.
Who Is Responsible After a Driverless Truck Accident?
When someone is injured in a conventional trucking accident, investigators typically examine driver behavior, maintenance records, hours-of-service compliance, and the trucking company's safety practices. A crash involving an autonomous truck may require additional investigation into the technology controlling the vehicle.
Did the truck fail to recognize a stopped vehicle, or was there a problem with its sensors or braking system? Investigators may also need to determine whether a software update affected its performance or the truck was operating under conditions its system wasn't designed to handle.
Depending on the circumstances, responsibility could involve the trucking company, fleet operator, vehicle manufacturer, autonomous technology developer, or another party.
Investigators may need electronic driving records, camera footage, sensor data, software information, and communications with remote support personnel. Different companies may control some of that information, which can complicate efforts to determine what caused the crash.
At The Cochran Firm Texas, investigating serious commercial truck accidents often means examining the responsibilities of several parties. Autonomous technology may complicate those investigations, but the goal remains the same: finding out what caused the crash and who may be legally responsible.
What Driverless Truck Expansion Means for North Texas
Thousands of driverless trucks could be traveling North Texas highways within five years. That prospect creates opportunities for the freight industry, but it also puts greater responsibility on companies and regulators to prove the technology can operate safely in everyday traffic.
As these vehicles become more common, the public should have access to reliable safety information. And when a serious accident occurs, the absence of a human driver shouldn't make it harder for injured people and their families to find answers or pursue compensation.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a commercial truck accident, The Cochran Firm Texas can help you understand your legal options and the steps involved in investigating a potential claim. Contact us online for a free consultation or call 1-800-843-3476.
