Being available now, will HAD play a role as a steppingstone to adoption of full L4 systems? And, if HAD has strong uptake, will it motivate the truck OEMs to accelerate their own rollout of such systems? In the near term, it will be fascinating to see what transpires with Traton and their U.S. subsidiary Navistar, now that their technology partnership with TuSimple is kaput. I'm quite certain they aren't sitting on their hands; they seek to have a strong play in the AV truck market as a strategic necessity. For highway operations, current efforts aim to automate the "ramp to ramp" long haul, augmented by transferring the load to human driven trucks for the last mile.

The self-driving era is here, just not the one that was promised. Instead of sleek pods without steering wheels ready to chauffeur buyers off the lot, there are mostly driverless Chevy compacts, Chrysler minivans, and Ford box trucks with bolted-on hardware trundling around bits of the U.S. southwest and, as of August, a short loop of roads in Ontario. But while the current reality has fallen far short of automaker predictions, it's worth stopping to acknowledge that there are trucks driving around public Canadian roads making deliveries, without a soul inside. The technological achievement of the feat has huge implications for business, and society, but the latest industry outlook, humbled by past failures, points to a more gradual rollout. "People think there will be a magic day where suddenly everything will be autonomous, but that's not how this is going to work," said Raquel Urtasun, a leading artificial intelligence researcher and chief executive of Toronto-based autonomous outfit Waabi Innovation Inc. "You will have certain areas where this technology is going to deploy, and then those areas will expand under more and more difficult situations."

Autonomous vehicle startup Gatik says it will start using its self-driving box trucks in Kansas as it expands to more territories. Governor Laura Kelly last week signed a bill that makes it legal for self-driving vehicles to run on public roads under certain circumstances. Following a similar effort in Arkansas, Gatik says it and its partner Walmart worked with legislators and stakeholders to "develop and propose legislation that prioritizes the safe and structured introduction of autonomous vehicles in the state." Before Gatik's trucks hit Kansas roads, the company says it will provide training to first responders and law enforcement. Gatik claims that, since it started commercial operations three years ago, it has maintained a clean safety record in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Ontario, Canada.

Walmart has revealed it is using fully driverless trucks to bring groceries from a fulfillment center to one of its Arkansas supermarkets, in a move that will cut costs and address the ongoing labor shortage affecting retail supply chains. Twelve hours a day, apair of trucks are running on a seven-mile loop of public roads from a fulfillment center to the Walmart on Regional Airport Boulevard in Bentonville, Arkansas, where the mega-retailer is headquartered. From there customers can conveniently pick up their orders. Walmart started driverless deliveries in August using autonomous trucks from Palo Alto, California-based start-up Gatik, but waited to make the announcement until Monday, after two months of incident-free deliveries. The trucking industry has faced a record worker shortage since the pandemic started, Chris Spear, president of the American Trucking Associations, told CNN, with 80,000 drivers still needed.

Walmart said Monday it has started using fully driverless trucking in its online grocery business, aiming to increase capacity and reduce inefficiencies. Walmart and Silicon Valley start-up Gatik said that, since August, they've operated two autonomous box trucks -- without a safety driver -- on a 7-mile loop daily for 12 hours. The Gatik trucks are loaded with online grocery orders from a Walmart fulfillment center called a "dark store." The orders are then taken to a nearby Walmart Neighborhood Market grocery store in Bentonville, Arkansas, where Walmart is headquartered. The program began in December 2020 after getting approval from the Arkansas State Highway Commission.

Gatik, a startup developing an autonomous vehicle stack for B2B short-haul logistics, today announced it has raised $9 million, with $1 million coming from a partnership with Ontario's Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN). Gatik says the AVIN collaboration -- part of an Ontario government program providing R&D, business, technical, and talent support, as well as vehicle test tracks -- will help it understand how inclement weather affects its vehicles' movements Some experts predict the pandemic will hasten adoption of autonomous vehicles for delivery. Self-driving cars, vans, and trucks promise to minimize the risk of spreading disease by limiting driver contact. This is particularly true with regard to short-haul freight, an estimated 30% of which takes place in snowy and icy conditions. The producer price index for local truckload carriage jumped 20.4% from July to August, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, most likely propelled by demand for short-haul distribution from warehouses and distribution centers to ecommerce fulfillment centers and stores.

In 2019, Walmart started working with a company called Gatik to test autonomous delivery trucks on a two-mile route between a fulfillment center and a store in Bentonville, Arkansas. After those vehicles logged more than 70,000 miles with a human driver there to make sure nothing went wrong, Walmart and Gatik say they're ready for a new challenge. Next year, there won't be any human drivers in the trucks. That milestone will make Gatik one of the first companies in the space to operate a fully autonomous route in this way. As the startup itself is quick to point, it has its simplified approach to thank for the achievement.

Gatik, a Palo Alto and Toronto based autonomous technology company deploying autonomous vehicles for B2B short-haul middle-mile logistics, announced today it has raised $25 million in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Wittington Ventures and Innovation Endeavors with participation from FM Capital and Intact Ventures. Existing investors like Dynamo Ventures, Fontinalis Partners, AngelPad and others participated as well. Gatik's investors bring a wealth of deep experience in automotive, artificial intelligence and supply chain, making them a strong strategic fit for the company's rapid growth. Gatik will use the funding to further expand its operations across North America, its team size in Silicon Valley and growing presence in Canada.

Gatik, a startup developing an autonomous vehicle stack for B2B short-haul logistics, today closed a $22.5 million series A financing round. The company also announced it will bring a fleet of self-driving vans to Canada as part of a deal with Loblaw, the country's largest retailer with over 200,000 employees. Some experts predict the pandemic will hasten the adoption of autonomous vehicles for delivery. Self-driving cars, vans, and trucks promise to minimize the risk of spreading disease because they inherently limit driver contact. This is particularly true with regard to short-haul freight, which is experiencing a spike in volume during the outbreak.