We are still in the early stages of seeing how AI will transform the world, with some developments once confined to science fiction now becoming reality. Among the most compelling applications is the rise of autonomous vehicles where AI is being integrated into the logistics backbone of modern economies. Self-driving taxis and freight haulers are already being tested on public roads, and their broader adoption appears increasingly inevitable.

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This shift holds particular significance for the U.S. trucking industry. According to the American Trucking Associations, nearly 15 million trucks transported about 72.7% of the nation’s freight last year, generating roughly $906 billion in revenue. In North America alone, the autonomous trucking market is projected to reach $65.4 billion within a decade.

Transitioning this massive industry to an AI-driven, autonomous model could reshape it entirely. Self-driving trucks could operate longer hours, boost fuel efficiency, and reduce costs, while eliminating human fatigue as a safety risk – potentially making highways safer overall. Every aspect of the sector, from fleet management to payroll systems, will need to evolve.

Given these transformative prospects, it’s little wonder that Wall Street’s analysts are becoming increasingly optimistic about autonomous trucking stocks. Using the TipRanks database, we’ll take a closer look at two of their favored picks.

Aurora Innovation (AUR)

We’ll start by looking at Aurora Innovation, an AI tech firm devoted to autonomous vehicle solutions – and with a special focus on the freight industry. The company has created the Aurora Driver, an AI-powered autonomous driving system that was designed from the ground up to fit all types of vehicles. The company has chosen to put it on the road in the trucking industry, and Aurora currently has its system installed and delivering customer loads in Texas.

The autonomous truck system was launched on a Dallas–Houston route in April of this year, and on October 28 it announced the opening of a second route, running from Dallas to El Paso. In the same announcement, Aurora also said that it had surpassed 100,000 driverless truck miles on the open road. The company is running five driverless trucks and so far boasts a perfect safety record.

Aurora has also released specifications for the next generation of its hardware package, designed to improve the performance and durability of the autonomous trucks while significantly reducing costs. The improvements include increased reliability of the system, aimed at a 1 million-mile lifespan; an extended range for the FirstLight LiDAR sensing system to 1,000 meters; and improvements in sensor cleaning for better all-weather operations. Aurora aims to deploy the new hardware by 2027.