Kodiak Robotics intends to outfit a fleet of 800 commercial trucks with self-driving systems. The trucks are expected to reach the road in the second half of 2025, the company said Thursday.
Logistics firm Loadsmith will operate the trucks as part of a freight network billed as the first to be exclusively underpinned by self-driving technology.
The partnership will focus on utilizing autonomous-driving on select highways in the southern United States, where industry-friendly laws and regulations largely permit autonomous trucking.
Texas will likely be the starting point, Kodiak Robotics CEO Don Burnette told Automotive News. But details are not yet firm.
“We haven’t made a determination or finalized the details of where we’ll be operating,” he said.
Should their plans come to fruition, it is believed the Loadsmith fleet would be the largest self-driving trucking fleet in operation on public roads in the near term. It is an aggressive but attainable plan, autonomous vehicle industry consultant Richard Bishop said.
“In terms of today’s reality, no company has yet launched fully commercial Class 8 driverless trucks for long-haul operations,” Bishop said. “This would be a ramp-up from zero to 800 in two years’ time, an ambitious aim.”
Aurora Innovation, one of Kodiak’s competitors, plans to launch service between Dallas and Houston and have about two dozen AV trucks running by the end of 2024. Aurora inked a partnership with Continental in a deal that will hasten scale starting in 2027.
Using the Kodiak Driver, the company’s self-driving technology system, Loadsmith’s fleets will haul goods along highways. The trucks will be driven by humans to hubs along or near the highways, at which point the autonomous system can be engaged.
It will drive by itself to another hub, at which point another human driver will pick up the truck and deliver cargo to its final destination.
Loadsmith founder and CEO Brett Suma said the company might operate and own hubs in select markets but will otherwise partner with real-estate development companies to build the hubs.
“It would be foolish for us to just try to go it alone from a real estate perspective,” Suma said. “There are third parties working on and talking through what a logistics hub looks like that incorporates a truck park for autonomous [trucks].”
They’re not the only company considering how real estate fits into AV truck operations.
Loadsmith will lease the trucks and trailers for its network. The company is still determining which trucks it will use, Suma said. The company wants to partner with a truck manufacturer that offers a range of powertrain options.
Kodiak’s self-driving technology can be placed on any truck. The company currently buys its trucks from commercial manufacturer Paccar and its subsidiaries Kenworth and Peterbilt.
But Aurora has a more extensive relationship with Paccar and Volvo Trucks, which might make things difficult for Kodiak later, Bishop said.
“Kodiak could find it challenging to source that amount of self-driving-ready trucks on the open market,” he said.
Loadsmith will pay a per-mile fee to Kodiak when its autonomous systems are active. As part of the partnership, Loadsmith will also join the Kodiak Partner Deployment Program, which helps companies create autonomous freight operations using the Kodiak Driver.
Kodiak’s existing partners include trucking and logistics companies C.R. England, Forward Air and Werner, along with meat processor Tyson Foods Inc. and Swedish furniture company Ikea.
While many are concerned about the widespread impact autonomy will have on truck driver jobs, Kodiak said the advent of its hub-to-hub model will create local driving opportunities and relieve the driver shortages that disrupt American supply chains.
That helps human drivers stay local, and it helps self-driving technology stick with an environment where it is best suited, said Dan Goff, director of external affairs at Kodiak.
“First-mile and last-mile driving is a very difficult problem and a very different problem,” he said.
