The Alliance Logistics District’s creation was announced in November as a partnership between Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Hillwood, a real estate development company, and Fort Worth.
“[This is] a first-of-its-kind district that enables advanced logistics operations, including autonomous and heavy-haul freight movement,” said Nicholas Konen, vice president of strategic development at Hillwood.
The Alliance Logistics District is one of the latest developments in the master-planned community that Hillwood launched, known as AllianceTexas. It consists of three streets: Mobility Way, Distribution Drive and Intermodal Parkway.
The streets are designed so that only vehicles carrying cargo can use them, with the goal of faster and more cost-effective transportation through autonomous and semiautonomous shuttles, according to a Hillwood news release.
Konen said the district should reduce congestion on nearby public roadways and lower operational costs that would impact customers.
AllianceTexas has had a cumulative economic impact of $142.9 billion since it opened in 1990, according to a Feb. 24 presentation given to Fort Worth officials. Local communities have invested an estimated $4.55 billion in property taxes since the opening of AllianceTexas, according to its most recent economic report.
“The partnership between Hillwood and the city and all of our other public partners is stronger and more active than it’s ever been,” Hillwood President Mike Berry said.
The features
Konen said the logistics district provides a more predictable environment for the technology than traditional public roadways would.
“This controlled setting allows for safer integration of advanced vehicle technologies while maintaining oversight and adaptability as conditions change,” he said.
The vehicles used at the logistics district are designed for predictable freight movements between facilities and warehouses, Konen said.
Aurora, a self-driving technology company, will start a new driverless trucking service from Fort Worth to El Paso this year, according to a company news release. The route was greenlit after a successful trial between Dallas and Houston in April 2025, an Aurora news release states. The Dallas-to-Houston route was the first regular long-haul run in the United States.
There was one reported crash incident related to autonomous trucks in Texas in the past six months, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. An Aurora truck traveling 7 mph on a frontage road in Aledo, a city west of Fort Worth, brushed against a construction barrier, administration documents state.
The truck was part of a development test and not the company’s current driverless software, according to documents. The truck was manually driven to Aurora’s Fort Worth terminal, and no injuries or damage to the barrier were reported.
Zooming in
Konen said the district will appeal mostly to logistics, automation and advanced manufacturing companies that rely on inland rail ports. It will assist a rail port that provides nearly half of the trade volume in Texas, per previous reporting.
Exports at AllianceTexas have increased by 378% between 2023 and 2024, data from Hillwood shows. AllianceTexas has more than 600 companies with operations in the area as of 2025.
Companies come from multiple industries like manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and aviation, financial services, e-commerce and pharmaceutical health care. Organizations with ties to AllianceTexas include LG Electronics, Hyundai, FedEx, Amazon, Nestle and Charles Schwab, according to Hillwood documents.
Companies like Aurora and Torc Robotics also do test drives for self-driving trucks at AllianceTexas.
What they’re saying
The Standing General Order provides NHTSA with important information about crashes involving vehicles equipped with automated driving systems … [That] has allowed the agency to identify areas for defect investigation that has led to several recalls,” said Sean Rushton, Communications Director, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Breaking it down
Several public entities invested in AllianceTexas’ development. Of the $1.6 billion invested in 2025, 43.02% is from federal and state funds.
Looking ahead
Hillwood is investing in a new $20 million three-lane bridge to connect the BNSF intermodal facility and Alliance’s container depot. Jon Gabriel, group vice president of consumer products at BNSF Railway, said its intermodal facility helps connect roughly 1 million shipments a year to the area.
“Our facility offers sustainable and efficient capacity solutions to cargo shipper supply chains across the Metroplex,” Gabriel said.
The bridge will be mostly used by regular and autonomous semitrucks, and closed to residential traffic, according to a Hillwood news release. It will be built over FM 156 near Distribution Drive, Konen said.
“The three-lane bridge will significantly improve freight flow while reducing truck traffic on public roads,” he said.
Kelly Morris, a media and content specialist for Hillwood, said construction is underway and should be completed in late 2027.
