To reportedly boost its online grocery business, Walmart has opted to use driverless trucks.
In December 2020, Walmart and startup company Gatik started their driverless truck program after getting approval from the Arkansas State Highway Commission. CNBC reports that the move to driverless trucks comes as the company tries to improve capacity issues and other inefficiencies.
Since August, the companies have been working together, operating two driverless, autonomous box trucks that travel on the same 7-mile trip every day for 12 hours. There is no longer a safety driver that rides along with Walmart’s product.
In a news release, Walmart Senior Vice President Tom Ward said the company is excited to have made the groundbreaking “milestone.”
“We’re thrilled to be working with Gatik to achieve this industry-first, driverless milestone,” said Ward. “Through our work with Gatik, we’ve identified that autonomous box trucks offer an efficient, safe and sustainable solution for transporting goods on repeatable routes between our stores.”
Gautam Narang, CEO of Gatik, says it’s helpful to have such a huge company depend on them for service. “Taking the driver out is the holy grail of this technology,” said Narang. “Having the trust from the world’s largest retailer has been a massive boost for what we do and is a validation for our technology, our solution, our progress.”
