Kodiak Robotics and IKEA announce co-operation for autonomous freight delivery in the US

Kodiak Robotics and IKEA announce co-operation for autonomous freight delivery in the US

Kodiak Robotics, a leading self-driving trucking company, has started co-operation with IKEA Supply Chain Operations by piloting autonomous freight deliveries in Texas. The co-operation, which began on August 8 2022, includes a Kodiak autonomous heavy-duty truck transporting IKEA products seven days a week between the IKEA Distribution Center in Baytown and the IKEA Store in Frisco.

The main purpose is to get a better understanding of how Kodiak’s autonomous driving technology contributes to increased road safety and better working conditions for truck drivers on longer distances. The self-driving truck has a professional safety truck driver behind the wheel who picks up a loaded trailer at the distribution center each morning and oversees the autonomous delivery to the store by late afternoon.

“We are proud to be working with Kodiak to achieve our ambitious goals of being at the forefront of innovation and building capabilities for future transportation,” said Dariusz Mroczek, Category Area Transport Manager, IKEA Supply Chain Operations. “Kodiak’s technology will contribute towards our objective to put the driver in focus in the transition towards automated transportation and towards our road safety agenda.”

Don Burnette, Founder and CEO, Kodiak Robotics, added: “IKEA and Kodiak share a commitment to putting safety first. Together we can enhance safety, improve working conditions for drivers and create a more sustainable freight transportation system. Adopting autonomous trucking technology can improve drivers’ quality of life by focusing on the local driving jobs most prefer to do. We look forward to working with the IKEA carrier partners to bring these benefits to the IKEA supply chain.”

Autonomous trucks are also more fuel-efficient as indicated by a study from the University of California San Diego which estimated that self-driving trucks consume roughly 10% less fuel than traditional manually driven trucks on diesel-fueled fleets.

Leveraging its built-for-scale solution, Kodiak has been rapidly and safely adding new lanes. These include the recently announced launch of commercial operations between Dallas and Oklahoma City and service between Dallas and Atlanta. Kodiak has been delivering freight daily between Dallas to Houston since mid-2019 and delivering freight between Dallas and San Antonio since mid-2021.

Werner Enterprises and Kodiak Robotics collaborate to run 24/7 long-haul autonomous freight operations Kodiak Robotics has also announced its collaboration with Werner Enterprises, one of the US’s largest transportation and logistics providers, to establish an autonomous trucking lane and to showcase how efficiently autonomous trucks can be used with a transfer hub model at truckports. 

The relationship commenced in August with a week-long pilot program in which a Kodiak truck, always accompanied by a human safety driver, completed four tours involving eight unique trips between Dallas and Lake City, Florida. Werner Enterprises also joined Kodiak’s Partner Deployment Program, which helps carriers establish autonomous freight operations and seamlessly integrate the Kodiak Driver, Kodiak’s self-driving system, into their fleet.

“Working with Kodiak enables us to efficiently incorporate new technologies into our business while giving us a competitive edge,” said Chad Dittberner, Senior Vice President of Van/Expedited at Werner. “We’re eager to establish the hybrid model of drivers and on-going autonomous lanes to create new and unparalleled levels of efficiency while staying focused on Werner’s value of putting safety first.”

During its pilot with Werner, Kodiak completed a total of 152 hours of driving time and achieved 100% on-time delivery performance. Werner had trailers ready for a Kodiak self-driving truck to pick up on both ends of the trip. Werner’s local drivers completed the first-mile pickups and last-mile deliveries. This truckport model maximizes the amount of time the Kodiak Driver spends driving.

“Werner’s vision for incorporating autonomous trucks into their future operations demonstrates a fundamental understanding of where autonomous technology fits within the trucking industry,” added Burnette. “The Kodiak Driver is designed to do the often-undesirable highway portions of long-haul routes, allowing drivers to handle the deliveries that let them sleep in their own beds at night. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Werner and introducing new permanent lanes together.”

The joint effort with Werner Enterprises is the most recent carrier relationship to be announced by Kodiak. Earlier this year, the company announced partnerships with US. Xpress, 10 Roads Express and CEVA Logistics.

Click below to share this article

Browse our latest issue

Intelligent CIO North America

View Magazine Archive