Kodiak Robotics Inc., a self-driving trucking company, has signed a dedicated agreement with Forward Air Corporation, an asset-light provider of transportation services across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Through this agreement, Kodiak and Forward are operating autonomous freight service 24 hours per day, six days per week (24/6) between Dallas and Atlanta, making three round trips weekly.
To date, Kodiak has delivered more than 100 loads and driven more than 100,000 miles since it began working with Forward in August 2022. In order to maintain a schedule and abide by the hours-of-service regulations, Kodiak’s self-driving truck operates with a safety driver team overseeing the autonomous system.
Kodiak’s ability to operate consistent 24-hour service across the nearly 800-mile freight lane between Dallas and Atlanta is largely attributable to its autonomous system and its sparse mapping solution. This proprietary mapping approach speeds the process of introducing new autonomous lanes, and it enables Kodiak to issue real-time, fleet-wide mapping updates over-the-air.
“We are proving our business model by moving time-sensitive freight across thousands of miles and multiple hours of service through our collaboration with Forward,” says Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak. “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.”
