Autonomous vehicle startup Kodiak Robotics is expanding its self-driving freight service to Florida by partnering with 10 Roads Express, a provider of time-sensitive surface transportation for the U.S. Postal Service, the companies announced July 26.
To launch this partnership, Kodiak completed a round trip consisting of four commercial deliveries, including a coast-to-coast commercial run. A Kodiak autonomous truck carried 10 Roads Express freight nearly 5,600 miles from San Antonio, Texas; to the San Francisco Bay Area; along the I-10 corridor to Jacksonville, Florida; and back to San Antonio. The route was completed in just 114 hours.
“We are focused on servicing routes that fit the real-world needs of our customers,” Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak, said in a statement. “10 Roads Express’s network of long length-of-haul routes makes it an ideal partner for Kodiak. Our unique lightweight mapping system allowed us to expand into Florida in a fraction of the time it would take to build traditional AV maps, enabling us to service some of the nation’s busiest coast-to-coast freight lanes. This expansion further demonstrates the scalability and flexibility of our autonomous solution, the Kodiak Driver.”
As part of the partnership, 10 Roads will explore integrating Kodiak’s autonomous driving technology into its fleet in the coming years.
“10 Roads Express carries some of the most high-priority freight in the trucking business,” Wayne Hoovestol, CEO of 10 Roads Express, said in a statement. “We are committed to exploring all opportunities to create better jobs for our drivers while providing exceptional service to our customers. This partnership is an opportunity to stay abreast of this technology’s progress and evaluate its benefits. By partnering with Kodiak now, 10 Roads can build the operational expertise we need to efficiently integrate autonomous trucks into our fleet in the coming years.”
Founded in 2018, Kodiak carried its first commercial load in 2019. In April, it started the first commercial autonomous trucking lane to the East Coast, a route connecting Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta.
