Aurora Innovation on Wednesday opened its first lane for driverless trucks connecting Dallas and Houston, supported by its commercial trucking terminal in Houston, ahead of a launch in 2024.

"Bringing our commercial-ready terminals and services online a year ahead of our planned commercial driverless launch between Dallas and Houston enables us to focus next year on integrating our driver-ready trucks into our customers' operations," said Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson.

Aurora said it would operate its terminals day and night, which will support more than 75 commercial loads for pilot customers.

The company will support its terminals with Command Centers which will include staff who monitor and guide the fleet.

Aurora's move comes as federal investigations have been launched into General Motors' autonomous vehicle unit Cruise, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles ordered Cruise's self driving cars to be removed from state roads citing safety concerns.

Aurora's portfolio of products includes Aurora Driver, its self-driving technology that can be employed across vehicle types, and driverless trucking subscription service Aurora Horizon.

Aurora has partnerships with Uber Technologies, Toyota, Volvo, and PACCAR, among others.

  - Reuters