Maersk and Kodiak Robotic shave teamed together to haul goods 24 hours a day, four days a week on an autonomous lane between Houston, Texas and Oklahoma City. Deliveries will comprise eight loads per week with a safety driver behind the wheel.
“Teaming with Kodiak enables Maersk to stay at the forefront of innovative solutions. Autonomous trucks will play an instrumental role in digitizing the supply chain. 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.” –Erez Agmoni, Maersk’s global head of innovation – logistics and services.
The trucks are hauling consumer products (dry van) in standard 53-foot trailers. They haul from Houston to Oklahoma City, where they are unloaded at a distribution center. It was not clear if the trailers are reloaded at that facility or another or returning to Houston empty.
“Since our founding, we have focused on developing an autonomous product that is easy for global innovation leaders to integrate into their networks, and Maersk is a perfect fit. Hauling commercial freight gives us the opportunity to work together to integrate Kodiak’s autonomous trucking solution into Maersk’s operations. As the first autonomous trucking company to establish this new commercial lane between Houston and Oklahoma City, we are demonstrating our team’s ability to introduce new lanes and bring new efficiencies to the entire logistics industry.” –Don Burnette, founder and CEO, Kodiak
Aaron is an automotive journalist living in Wyoming, USA. His background includes technology, mechanics, commercial vehicles, and new vehicle evaluations. Aaron is a member of several automotive media groups and writes for many well-known publications.