The Sunbelt continues to be ground zero for autonomous and driverless trucking technologies
Global shipping giant A.P. Moller - Maersk and autonomous trucking tech startup Kodiak Robotics on Thursday confirmed the two companies have launched the first commercial autonomous trucking lane between Houston and Oklahoma City – an expansion of the collaboration between to two companies that began nearly a year ago.
"In total, we have hauled over 50 loads with Maersk. We kicked off our partnership with initial pilot deliveries in November 2022," Michael Wiesinger, Kodiak Robotics vice president of commercialization told CCJ Thursday. "We subsequently worked to further understand Maersk’s network, operations, and long-term strategy, and in August introduced sustained commercial operations on a lane that is strategically important for Maersk.”
Kodiak has been delivering eight loads per week between Texas and Oklahoma, with a safety driver behind the wheel, for Maersk customers since August.
[Related: AVs will augment drivers, not replace them]
“Autonomous trucks will play an instrumental role in digitizing the supply chain," said Erez Agmoni, Maersk’s global head of innovation - logistics & services. "We expect self-driving trucks to ultimately become a competitive advantage for Maersk as we execute on our strategy to provide customers with a sustainable, end-to-end logistics solution across air, land and sea.”
