Kodiak Robotics and Forward Air Corp. are running a 24/6 autonomous freight service between Dallas and Atlanta.
The self-driving truck has delivered more than 100 loads and driven more than 100,000 miles since August. It has a safety driver team overseeing the system.
"To serve our customers, we always need to be on the forefront of exploring emerging technologies," Forward Chairman, President and CEO Tom Schmitt says. "Kodiak has earned an outstanding reputation in safe autonomous trucking, and this collaboration allows us to explore potential benefits to our business. While we don't see autonomous trucks replacing independent contractor capacity, this could potentially be a scalable solution for certain lanes in our network."
Kodiak also has partnerships with IKEA, Werner, U.S. Xpress, 10 Roads Express and CEVA Logistics.
"The tweener lane between Dallas and Atlanta is long and difficult to staff, so it perfectly illustrates how autonomous trucks can make the supply chain more efficient and resilient and supplement our customers' human-driven fleets," says Kodiak's Don Burnette, founder and CEO. "At the same time, we are showcasing the reliability and ruggedness of our autonomous system, which is able to operate for six days straight without needing rest or recalibration -- a significant achievement."
