Kodiak Robotics & IKEA Announce Cooperation for Autonomous US Freight Delivery

Kodiak Robotics, Inc., a US self-driving trucking company, has started cooperation with IKEA Supply Chain Operations by piloting autonomous freight deliveries in Texas. The cooperation includes a Kodiak autonomous heavy-duty truck transporting IKEA products seven days a week between the IKEA Distribution Center in Baytown and the IKEA Store in San Francisco.

The self-driving truck has a professional safety truck driver behind the wheel who picks up a loaded trailer at the distribution center each morning and oversees the autonomous delivery to the store by late afternoon.

The main purpose of the cooperation is to get a better understanding of how Kodiak's autonomous driving technology contributes to increased road safety and better working conditions for truck drivers on the longer distances. 

Kodial is currently delivering freight daily for its customers along four routes in Texas and Oklahoma, operating autonomously on the highway portions of the routes. 

Don Burnette, Founder and CEO, Kodiak Robotics, says: "IKEA and Kodiak share a commitment to putting safety first. Together we can enhance safety, improve working conditions for drivers, and create a more sustainable freight transportation system. Adopting autonomous trucking technology can improve drivers' quality of life by focusing on the local driving jobs most prefer to do. We look forward to working with the IKEA carrier partners to bring these benefits to the IKEA supply chain."

"We are proud to be working with Kodiak to achieve our ambitious goals of being at the forefront of innovation and building capabilities for future transportation," adds Dariusz Mroczek, Category Area Transport Manager, IKEA Supply Chain Operations. "Kodiak's technology will contribute towards our objective to put the driver in focus in the transition towards automated transportation and towards our road safety agenda."

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and is developing an industry-leading technology stack purpose-built specifically for long-haul trucks, making the freight industry safer and more efficient.