Kroger lands deal for self-driving truck deliveries

Get ready because the empty truck cabs in motion are coming.

Gatik, which is involved in autonomous middle-mile logistics, has announced a multi-year commercial collaboration to transport customer orders within Kroger’s Dallas distribution network. The operations will launch in a few weeks.

Under the collaboration, Gatik’s medium-duty autonomous box trucks will transport fresh, customer-favorite products from a Kroger Customer Fulfillment Center (CFC) in Dallas, Texas, to multiple retail locations. Gatik’s autonomous trucks each feature a cold chain-capable 20-foot box designed to transport ambient, refrigerated and frozen goods quickly, safely and efficiently.

The collaboration involves consistent, repeated delivery runs multiple times per day, seven days per week across Kroger’s Dallas distribution network. Gatik said there are advantages of autonomous delivery: Increased speed and responsiveness when fulfilling e-commerce orders, reduced costs and dedicated capacity across the supply chain’s middle mile.

“Kroger’s commitment to redefining service levels for its customers through innovative technology meant that our collaboration came together very quickly,” said Gautam Narang, co-founder and CEO, Gatik. “We’re deeply familiar with operating our autonomous fleet within the Dallas ecosystem, and we’re very excited to bring that experience to support Kroger in its mission to reshape the future of goods delivery.”

Related:Kroger employees file lawsuits over paycheck mishaps

Gatik’s autonomous middle-mile solution will help support Kroger by meeting customers’ immediate needs whether they shop online or in-store, providing access to goods faster and more reliably than ever before.

Since launching commercial operations in 2019, Gatik has delivered half a million customer orders, leveraging its commercial-grade autonomous technology to transport freight safely and efficiently on the middle mile. Gatik provides Autonomous Transportation as a Service (ATaaS) daily for customers across multiple markets including Arkansas and Ontario, and is continuing to densify its commercial presence in the state of Texas to meet customer demand.

The news has not been good for Kroger lately, as the retailer is facing a lawsuit filed by employees for paycheck mishaps and a coalition launched a website in an attempt to stop the merger with Albertsons. The Federal Trade Commission announced earlier this week that it will begin the process of asking competitors their thoughts about the merger.