Aurora Innovation Targets 20 Driverless Trucks a Week in Q4

Amazon announced it is investing another $1.9 billion in its Delivery Service Partner program in 2027, bringing total investment in the eight-year-old program to $21.7 billion. The new funding is aimed at helping DSPs raise Delivery Associate pay to a national average of nearly $24 per hour, with Amazon saying its investments over the past three years will have helped DSP owners increase driver pay by an average of 16% nationwide. Amazon said serious vehicle crashes across its delivery network dropped more than 23% last year, following more than $543 million invested since 2022 in safety initiatives, programs and technology for DSP owners and their teams. The company is rolling out surround-view cameras that will be installed in 50% of Rivian electric delivery vehicles across the network by the end of this year, and it expects to have more than 20,000 Amazon Smart Delivery Glasses in the field by the end of 2027. Amazon is also committing $70 million over the next five years toward community impact initiatives led by DSP owners, including Amazon Local Good, which the company expects to transport and deliver over 150 million essential items, including meals, over that period.

Textron Aviation, a unit of Textron, and autonomous flight software company Merlin introduced a pilotless cargo plane concept called the Cessna SkyCourier UX on September 14, pairing an FAA-certified twin-engine turboprop with Merlin's autonomy software. The concept is designed to keep dispersed military forces supplied when normal supply routes become too risky, carrying roughly 6,000 pounds, or up to three LD3 cargo containers, and landing on unimproved strips. Merlin CEO Matt George says the company's software has logged hundreds of autonomous flights across Beechcraft King Airs, Cessna Caravans and other planes, and because the base aircraft is already certified and in production, Textron would lean on an existing factory and support network. Nothing in the announcement points to a customer, an order, or a delivery date, and the companies describe the SkyCourier UX as an exploration. The concept arrives alongside mixed results for Textron Aviation, whose second-quarter revenue rose just 1% while jet deliveries fell to 40 from 49 and segment profit slipped 3% to $165 million, even as companywide revenue rose 3% to $3.8 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.62 per share topped the $1.55 posted a year earlier.