Jul 23, 2024 - Technology

Kodiak's first driverless semi trucks are rolling in Texas

Joann Muller

Image of a red driverless semi-truck hauling a sand trailer past an oil well in the West Texas Permian Basin. — Kodiak's driverless trucks will begin by hauling sand across fracking sites in Texas. Photo: Courtesy of Kodiak

Kodiak Robotics will supply autonomous driving technology to Atlas Energy Solutions, a key player in the fracking business, it announced Tuesday.

Atlas plans to take delivery of its first two Kodiak-equipped trucks by the end of the year.

Driving the news: The companies said they've already completed a fully driverless delivery of frac sand in Texas' Permian Basin: a 21-mile journey from an Atlas depot to a well site.

Kodiak says it was the first driverless commercial semi-truck freight delivery in North America.

The big picture: Kodiak says hauling materials in industrial settings like the oilfields of west Texas is a new and potentially lucrative market for driverless semi trucks.

Operations like those in the Permian Basin, with its private road network and slow speeds, can also serve as a proving ground before operating on public highways, Kodiak CEO Don Burnette tells Axios.

What they're saying: Burnette called industrial logistics "a stepping stone toward an over-the-road launch" that generates real revenue today.

"This allows us to stress and flex a lot of the muscle that will ultimately be required when we launch over-the-road operations."

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Kodiak's first driverless semi trucks are rolling in Texas

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