Oklahoma Autonomous Trucking Grows on I-35 as Federal Rules Ease

A second autonomous freight lane reaches Oklahoma City

Interstate 35 between the Texas line and Oklahoma City is now where Oklahoma tests self-driving freight. In May, Aurora Innovation and Volvo Autonomous Solutions (V.A.S.) announced a 200-mile autonomous route from Dallas to Oklahoma City, with V.A.S. delivering freight to customer sites in the city using the Volvo VNL Autonomous running the Aurora Driver software.10 The companies say the trucks run five days a week in what they call "supervised autonomy." They also say Aurora mapped the interstate route in a matter of weeks and then started autonomous hauls.8

This is the second autonomous trucking operation on Oklahoma highways. The Oklahoman traces the first to late 2023, when Kodiak AI and Maersk opened a commercial lane between Houston and Oklahoma City.2 That history goes back further, though. In 2022, Kodiak and Ceva Logistics said they had made the first autonomous freight deliveries in Oklahoma, on a 200-mile Dallas–Fort Worth to Oklahoma City lane along I-35.6 So the corridor has been testing this technology for about four years, not two.

The activity is also tightly concentrated. As of 2026, Oklahoma's sections of I-40 and I-44 have no autonomous routes, and the only autonomous trucks in the state run on I-35 between Oklahoma City and Texas.2 Earlier coverage suggested the trucks would use main routes such as I-35 and I-40.5 For now, only I-35 has them. The likely reason is that I-35 is a northern extension of the Texas freight network where Aurora and Kodiak already operate.

Someone in the seat, but not driving

The trucks crossing into Oklahoma still carry a person. A captain in the Oklahoma Highway Patrol's commercial vehicle enforcement troop told The Oklahoman that the trucks drive themselves in autonomous mode while the person behind the wheel does nothing.2 He said he thinks the trucks are safe. He pointed to sensors that detect hazards sooner than people can and to the removal of human perception and reaction delays.2 A follow-up article noted that this is his personal view, not a legal or regulatory finding.1

Public expectations have run ahead of what is happening on the road. In May, a regional TV station said fully driverless semis could reach Oklahoma roads within a month. In the same report, Oklahoma motorists and a truck driver worried about software glitches and errors that could cost lives.7 In early June, another station opened by saying Oklahomans would soon see semis with nobody inside. That same piece said the first trucks would likely come with drivers for testing.5 What actually showed up was supervised operation, which is less dramatic than either report suggested.

The legal question the coverage doesn't settle

The reporting disagrees most sharply on whether Oklahoma law allows trucks with no human aboard. The Oklahoman's articles say state law does not yet permit fully driverless vehicles. They say the Legislature would have to change the law before trucks could run empty, and that Texas already allows driverless semis.21

Other coverage describes the law very differently. Senate Bill 1541, signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt and in effect since November 2022, lets a person operate a fully autonomous vehicle with no human driver if the automated system is engaged and certain conditions are met. Before operating, the owner must file a law enforcement interaction plan with the Department of Public Safety. The plan has to explain how officers can reach a fleet support specialist, how to remove the vehicle from the road safely, and how to tell whether it is in autonomous mode. Owners must also show at least $1 million in insurance.26 Oklahoma Watch reported this month that the statute explicitly allows fully autonomous vehicles without a human driver once those filings are made. A Highway Patrol lieutenant has also said lawmakers approved a framework in 2019, revised it in 2022, and that it covers fully autonomous commercial trucks that meet federal safety standards and follow state traffic laws.5

The statute's text seems to favor the second account. In our reading, the human in the cab on I-35 reflects where the companies are in their own rollout rather than a ban in state law. Aurora and V.A.S. say they are in the "final validation phase" before driverless operations.8 That fits a company choosing to keep a supervisor aboard on a newly mapped lane. It does not fit a company held back by the Legislature. The Oklahoman's framing could reflect some narrower point of enforcement or operations that hasn't been explained publicly. But based on the coverage so far, the claim that Oklahoma needs a new law for driverless trucks is the weaker one.

The question matters because the 2022 law was written to compete. Its sponsor, Sen. Paul Rosino, said at the time that Oklahoma was the only state on the I-40 corridor that did not allow autonomous vehicles, and that this hurt the state economically. If the legal path is already open, any delay in Oklahoma comes from validation, mapping and commercial demand, not from lawmakers.

Troopers have been preparing

State troopers are getting ready either way. Highway Patrol officials say they have trained with the companies. They have learned that the trucks are built to recognize red-and-blue lights and pull onto the shoulder, that a phone number on each cab connects to a dispatch center, and that paperwork is kept in a lockbox opened with a code from dispatch.5 One captain said the autonomous trucks get CVSA inspections every 24 hours. He added that if a truck detects a problem, it pulls over and takes itself out of service.7 One lieutenant passed along a company claim of two million miles without an at-fault collision. He also made clear that the agency works for Oklahomans, not for the trucking firms.5

Washington eases a key operating hurdle

The biggest change for I-35 may come from federal regulators, not the state. On October 9, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published a limited five-year exemption. It lets Aurora and other carriers running Level 4 automated trucks use cab-mounted warning beacons instead of the reflective triangles that drivers must set out around a stopped truck.18 The exemption took effect October 7 and lasts until October 7, 2031.20 Other carriers can use it only if they notify FMCSA in writing first.17

The rule addresses a basic problem: if nobody is in the cab, nobody can walk out and place triangles. Aurora first asked for relief in 2023. FMCSA denied the request in December 2024 and then gave the company a narrow temporary waiver.17 The agency renewed that waiver four times, in three-month increments, starting in October 2025.13 FMCSA says the new exemption fixes the problems it found in 2024. Beacons must turn on within five minutes, not the 10 minutes drivers get for triangles. The beacons also need a backup power source. Hazmat and passenger loads are excluded, carriers must file annual reports, and use is limited to each truck's validated operating domain.18 The agency cited Aurora data covering 34 trucks and more than 500,000 miles under the waiver, during which the beacons were active for almost 10 hours with no reported faults.18

Opponents argue the evidence is thin. A safety advocacy group said 10 hours of beacon use during planned stops shows little about emergencies. OOIDA, the independent truckers' association, asked FMCSA to wait until its own research on warning devices was finished.18 In its decision, the agency acknowledged that it has no data showing beacons fail more often than triangles.20 Critics read that as admitting the evidence doesn't exist. Supporters read it as a reasonable equivalence finding.

The dispute also has a direct Oklahoma connection. Cargo-van operator Kostas Giannoulias challenged the earlier waivers in the Seventh Circuit, saying he regularly hauls freight in parts of Texas and Oklahoma where Aurora runs its fleet.20 The Justice Department, representing FMCSA, argued he could not show imminent harm because only about 45 Aurora and Kodiak driverless trucks were operating under the waiver.13 That number may not stay small. Aurora told regulators it wanted to grow its fleet from 109 trucks to 200 by the end of 2026, and possibly to thousands over five years.16

What to watch

On paper, both state and federal permission are now largely in place. Oklahoma's statute sets out a driverless path built on insurance and law enforcement plans.26 FMCSA has removed a major federal obstacle for the next five years.18 The University of Oklahoma is also working on a federally funded freight project aimed at I-40 and I-35 that uses autonomous trucks and data sharing across state lines.4

Public opinion may be harder to win over. A May 2026 YouGov poll found that 69% of Americans are uncomfortable sharing the road with self-driving vehicles and 71% want stricter regulation before wide deployment.25 The next real test for I-35 will be the first time a truck crosses the Red River with an empty cab. When that happens, it will show whether Oklahoma's 2022 law works as written or whether the disagreement in the reporting points to a real legal gap.