Aug 28 (Reuters) - Aurora Innovation ( AUR ) will

integrate its self-driving trucking platform into McLeod

Software's transportation management system in an effort to

boost adoption, the companies said on Thursday.

An API integration to Aurora's technology will allow

mutual customers to manage autonomous shipments with McLeod's

TMS software.

"By meeting customers where they are within their existing

TMS, we're making it easy for them to tap into the safety and

efficiency benefits of autonomous trucks," said Ossa Fisher,

president at Aurora.

The partnership comes as other autonomous trucking startups

like Plus and Waabi develop their own technology and try to grab

market share.

Beta testing of Aurora's integration is under way, and

McLeod plans to offer the feature to customers next year.

Self-driving vehicles, especially trucks, face a long road

to commercialization, including regulatory approvals, dozens of

hours of testing and heavy capital investments.

Aurora launched commercial driverless operations earlier

this year in Texas - a welcoming state for self-driving

technology - using its flagship Aurora Driver tech for long-haul

trucking.

McLeod provides software to manage trucking logistics and

freight brokerage management for over 1,200 customers.