Aurora announced today that TÜV SÜD recently completed a safety management system audit that concluded that the autonomous trucking company is proactive, responsible, and thorough in its safety approach.

The testing, inspection, and certification company reviewed policies and programs that directly impact the safety of Aurora’s product and organization. That included evaluating how Aurora’s Safety Management System helps the organization make safety-related decisions, address safety concerns, measure organizational safety, and prioritize the expertise of safety leadership.

The audit investigated Aurora’s alignment with the Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium Report for Adapting a Safety Management System for Automated Driving System SAE Level 4 and 5 Testing and Evaluation. The AVSC00007 is an important “standard” for the safety-critical autonomous vehicle industry in the U.S.

“Aurora has consistently implemented the new industry best practice AVSC00007,” said Bijoy Bhaskaran, Director of Mobility Division at TÜV SÜD America Inc. “Aurora adapted best practices from other safety-critical industries to implement safety processes throughout their organization. This is a first-of-its-kind Safety Management System audit for the U.S. autonomous vehicle industry.”

In March 2023, the German Federal Motor Authority KBA (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt) expanded TÜV SÜD’s designation as an automated driving technical service. The new scopes cover the assessment of safety management systems and safety concepts for vehicles with automated or fully automated driving functions following Regulation (EU) 2022/1426, and in ODDs (operational design domains) by the AFGBV, the German ordinance regulating vehicles with fully automated driving functions. With the new KBA designation, TÜV SÜD now offers a range of services related to the type approval of fully automated vehicles.

TÜV SÜD supports automated vehicle developers from cybersecurity and functional safety to safety management systems, testing and certification, and the design and development of regulatory framework conditions. The technical service provider has worked with various partners to get this new technology safely on the road. It believes that international standards and regulations are a key factor in this success, ultimately ensuring that all vehicles on our roads meet the same safety standards, irrespective of their country of origin.

“Safety inspires trust and is therefore the basis for the success of the mobility of tomorrow,” said Christian Gnandt, Vice President of Automated Driving for TÜV SÜD.

The audit of Aurora included in-depth interviews with team members, including the CEO as Aurora’s Accountable Executive, that evaluated safety expertise, adherence to core safety programs, prioritization of safety policies, and management of a strong safety culture. The audit’s conclusions specifically highlighted the expertise of Aurora’s Safety Team, emphasizing the value of Aurora establishing its safety organization as an independent function that regularly reviews program effectiveness by its established Safety Review Board that seeks input from outside the company.

“Since Aurora’s founding, we’ve put safety policies and programs at the center of how we develop our self-driving product,” said Nat Beuse, Aurora’s Chief Safety Officer. “TÜV SÜD was diligent in their audit, and we’re proud that their independent assessment validated the strength of our safety approach.”

Aurora says that the TÜV SÜD’s audit was important as the company continues to prepare to deploy driverless trucks at scale, helping the organization understand the robustness of its safety policies and programs.

In late May, Aurora said it continues to make solid progress toward its initial driverless truck deployment between Dallas and Houston, expected at the end of this year. The company’s safety case is now 95% complete for that lane, but it won’t launch its driverless truck technology until it’s 100%. A spokesperson says that Aurora is the only AV company that’s made safety the metric by which a company measures the progress of its product.

In March, Aurora showcased its Driver’s ability to handle safety-critical situations without a driver on a closed track, saying it is important to build trust and show its product’s safety before operating on public roads.

Trucking partners and customers continue to get on board with Aurora’s Driver.

Volvo Trucks is preparing its New River Valley plant in Virginia—its most technically advanced manufacturing facility—to manufacture its autonomous VNL trucks at scale equipped with redundant systems and integrated with the Aurora Driver.

Hirschbach, a leading carrier that hauls perishable goods in refrigerated trailers, has said when Aurora is ready to go driverless, it will be too. The commitment positions the food industry as one of the first to benefit from driverless trucks.