Middle mile logistics specialist Gatik is providing fully driverless deliveries for Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas. The driverless trucks, which are operating daily without a safety driver behind the wheel, are moving customer orders between a Walmart dark store and a neighbourhood market in Gatik’s fleet of multi-temperature autonomous box trucks.

Gatik claims its deployment with Walmart in the state represents the first time that an autonomous trucking company has removed the safety driver from a commercial delivery route on the middle mile anywhere in the world.

Gatik’s fully driverless operations began in August 2021. They involve repeated delivery runs multiple times per day, seven days per week on public roads.

In December 2020, Gatik and Walmart received the Arkansas State Highway Commission’s first ever approval to remove the safety driver from Gatik’s autonomous trucks, following the completion of 18 months’ successful operations. As part of its roadmap to operating fully driverless, Gatik undertook a comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategy, involving state and local leadership and emergency services, and will continue to hold ongoing informational workshops concerning its ground-breaking autonomous operations.

Gatik says it has achieved a 100 percent safety record across multiple operational sites in North America (including Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Ontario). The company focuses on fixed delivery routes to maximise safety, using proprietary, commercial-grade autonomous technology that is purpose built for B2B short-haul logistics.

By constraining the operational design domain, Gatik has been able to achieve the safe removal of the safety driver much more quickly compared to other applications, such as passenger transportation or B2C delivery.

The complex urban route in Bentonville involves safely navigating intersections, traffic lights and merging on dense urban roads.

“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,” said Tom Ward, senior vice president of last mile at Walmart US. “We’re thrilled to be working with Gatik to achieve this industry-first, driverless milestone in our home state of Arkansas and look forward to continuing to use this technology to serve Walmart customers with speed.”

“Arkansas and Gatik have shifted into the future with Gatik’s self-driving delivery truck,” said Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. “It is fitting that Arkansas, which is home to the greatest retail companies in the world, is the launching pad for this innovation in retail delivery.”

“This milestone signifies a revolutionary breakthrough for the autonomous trucking industry,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder, Gatik. “Our deployment in Bentonville is not a one-time demonstration. These are frequent, revenue-generating, daily runs that our trucks are completing safely in a range of conditions on public roads, demonstrating the commercial and technical advantages of fully driverless operations on the middle mile. We’re thrilled to enable Walmart’s customers to reap the benefits.”