Florham Park, N.J. / Mountain View, Calif. – A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk), a global logistics and container shipping giant, and Kodiak Robotics, Inc., an autonomous trucking innovator, have jointly unveiled the first commercial autonomous trucking lane between Houston and Oklahoma City. This significant milestone represents an expansion of the partnership that commenced in November 2022 when Kodiak and Maersk embarked on their first autonomous freight deliveries as part of Maersk’s Global Innovation Center Program. Since August, Kodiak has been safely delivering eight loads per week, with a safety driver present, to Maersk customers.
The collaboration between Maersk and Kodiak is positioned to drive innovation in the supply chain industry, with autonomous trucks playing a pivotal role in the digitization of logistics. By harnessing this technology, Maersk aims to establish a competitive edge in providing customers with a sustainable, end-to-end logistics solution spanning air, land, and sea.
Erez Agmoni, Maersk’s Global Head of Innovation – Logistics & Services, commented on the venture: “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.”
The autonomous trucking lane currently operates four round trips per week, 24 hours a day, on a four-day-a-week schedule. It connects a Houston facility, where consumer products are loaded onto 53-foot trailers, to a distribution center in Oklahoma City. Crucially, the insights gained from these operations are captured and documented as part of the Kodiak Partner Deployment Program. This initiative is designed to assist companies in integrating Kodiak’s self-driving trucks into their broader logistics strategy and offerings.
Don Burnette, Founder and CEO of Kodiak, emphasized the collaborative nature of this endeavor: “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.”
The adoption of autonomous trucking solutions is poised to address persistent challenges faced by the trucking industry, including a driver shortage. According to the American Trucking Association, the industry currently faces a shortfall of approximately 78,000 drivers, a number projected to exceed 160,000 over the next decade based on demographic trends and increased freight demand.
Safety remains a paramount concern within the trucking industry, with human error cited as a leading cause of accidents. Kodiak prioritizes safety and performance in its autonomous trucking solution, equipping each vehicle with 18 different sensors, including cameras, radar, and lidar, to provide a 360-degree view around the truck. The truck continuously evaluates over 1,000 safety-critical processes and components every tenth of a second, with system upgrades distributed fleet-wide in real-time. Importantly, Kodiak’s autonomous trucks are designed to operate without being affected by environmental distractions.
The launch of this groundbreaking autonomous trucking lane signifies a significant step forward in the evolution of the logistics industry, with Maersk and Kodiak Robotics at the forefront of innovative solutions that promise to reshape the future of freight transportation.