USDOT grants Aurora a five-year exemption for cab beacons on driverless trucks

The U.S. Department of Transportation said late Wednesday it approved a five-year exemption for Aurora and other self-driving trucking companies from rules requiring drivers to place warning devices around a stopped truck, according to Reuters on Oct. 7.

The decision lets autonomous trucking companies use warning beacons mounted on the truck cab instead of sending a person out to place reflective triangles — a step forward for broadly deploying commercial self-driving trucks in the United States. USDOT judged the beacons to offer an equivalent or greater level of safety.

The exemption has conditions: companies must notify the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration before using it and disclose any crashes involving a vehicle while the cab-mounted beacons are activated or should have been activated. FMCSA said it will revoke the exemptions if safety falls below the level maintained before they were granted.

The decision closes a long-running fight. Waymo and Aurora jointly sought the waiver in 2023; Aurora sued FMCSA in early 2025 after the Biden administration denied it, then dismissed the suit after USDOT issued a temporary three-month waiver in October 2025 that had been extended several times. Aurora, which has about 20 self-driving trucks in on-road operations, said the decision underscores the government's recognition of the economic and community benefits of autonomous trucking, calling the beacons a critical 21st-century solution that alerts other road users without putting a person in harm's way. Aurora had filed a new individual application seeking the five-year waiver in April.