• Aurora Innovation, an autonomous vehicle technology startup, has extended its partnership with logistics provider FedEx to include a new lane from Fort Worth to El Paso in Texas.

• The journey is about 600 miles and will be operated on a weekly basis.

<ul><li>Aurora first partnered with FedEx last September and so far has completed a total of 60,000 miles hauling goods on behalf of FedEx on its first 240-mile commercial lane between Dallas and Houston, Texas.</ul> <ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: During the last quarter, Aurora expanded its infrastructure in Texas to expand its autonomous trucking operations—which must have boded well for the extended pilot. Aurora also conducts autonomous truck pilots in Texas for other customers including Uber Freight and Werner Enterprises. Texas has always been a popular destination for autonomous trucking companies given its geographical location, availability of academic and research institutions, and the Texan government’s encouragement. Other autonomous trucking companies with operations in Texas include Google Waymo, Daimler, Gatik, TuSimple, Embark Trucks, and Kodiak Robotics. </ul>