Self-Driving Trucks Gain California Permits for Public Road Testing

A significant milestone has been achieved in the development of self-driving trucks, with two companies, Aurora Innovation and Kodiak AI, receiving permits from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to test their autonomous vehicle technology on public roads.

Permits Granted for Testing

The permits, which were granted under updated rules approved by the California DMV in April 2023, allow companies to test and eventually deploy autonomous heavy-duty vehicles on public roads.

Aurora and Kodiak AI met the DMV’s permitting criteria, including safety, insurance, vehicle registration, safety driver qualification, and other requirements. The testing permits require a human safety operator to be behind the wheel and prohibit companies from operating on roads where the posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour or less, unless they are on a “direct route” between destinations.

Despite these restrictions, the prospect of self-driving trucks on California’s highways continues to fuel opposition. Teamsters California has sued the state’s DMV, alleging that the agency circumvented laws requiring it to study and publicly disclose the possible economic impacts of allowing self-driving trucks on public roads.

Aurora and Kodiak AI are both based in California, but until recently focused their testing and deployment activities in Texas due to the state’s ban on autonomous heavy-duty trucks. Aurora launched a self-driving truck service in Texas in May 2025, starting with a Dallas-to-Houston route. The company has added more routes since, including between Fort Worth and El Paso, El Paso and Phoenix, Fort Worth and Phoenix, and Laredo and Dallas.

Kodiak began commercial driverless truck operations in January 2025 in an off-road environment in West Texas’ remote Permian Basin. Kodiak has since expanded to on-highway operations, including a route between Dallas and Houston.