Kodiak’s self-driving trucks 24/7 on Texas’ dirt roads by next year

Kodiak, a US-based start-up specializing in autonomous driving tech for heavy trucks, has made its first real-world driverless delivery by hauling a load of sand for Atlas Energy Solutions on dirt roads in West Texas. By early next year, these driverless trucks should do these sand runs 24/7.

Kodiak was founded in 2018 by Don Burnette, who previously worked for Google’s self-driving car project (now Waymo) and co-founded Otto (acquired by Uber). Its goal is to produce platform-agnostic autonomous driving technology for road transport, which can be implemented in almost any vehicle brand or model.

The start-up has worked with the US Army since 2022 for “uncrewed military vehicles”, and last year, it showed its tech on an autonomous electric Class 8 truck, the heaviest road transport class in the US.

First driverless delivery

Now, the company has achieved another milestone. It has made its first driverless delivery for Atlas Energy Solutions in West Texas, which provides the oil and gas industry with frac sand in the Permian Basin. This area is harsh for drivers due to the heat, rough environment, and dirt roads, making it both a challenge and an opportunity for autonomous vehicles.

As the next step in this partnership, Kodiak is building two purpose-built trucks for Atlas, which will enter commercial operations by early 2025. This work for Atlas is still being performed on private roads. Still, Kodiak claims the challenging environment will accelerate the development to make its ‘Kodiak Driver’ system ready for use on public roads for customers.

“Over my career, I’ve seen autonomous vehicles move from the lab to the real world. It’s incredibly gratifying to have the opportunity to deploy the first real, scalable driverless product, doing the dull, dirty, and dangerous driving jobs that most people don’t want to do,” says founder & CEO of Kodiak, Don Burnette.