Maersk and Kodiak Robotics Launch the First Commercial Autonomous Truck

Copenhagen, Denmark- A.P. Moller - Maersk (Maersk)., an logistics company and Kodiak Robotics, Inc., have launch the first commercial autonomous trucking lane between Houston and Oklahoma City. The freight lane expands on Kodiak and Maersk's relationship, which began with their first autonomous freight deliveries together in November 2022 as part of Maersk's Global Innovation Centre Programme. Kodiak has been delivering eight loads per week for Maersk customers with a safety driver since August.

Mr. Erez Agmoni, Maersk’s global head of innovation - logistics & services, said that, Maersk's collaboration with Kodiak allows it to remain at the forefront of creative solutions. Autonomous vehicles will be critical in digitizing the supply chain. We anticipate that self-driving trucks will eventually offer Maersk with a competitive advantage as we implement our goal to give customers with a sustainable, end-to-end logistics solution across air, land, and sea.

Kodiak and Maersk make four round journeys each week, 24 hours a day, four days a week, between a Houston plant where consumer products are loaded onto 53-foot trailers and an Oklahoma City distribution center. The operational learnings from the activity are gathered and documented as part of the Kodiak Partner Deployment Programme, which is aimed to assist organizations in learning how Kodiak's autonomous trucks may become an integral part of their operations.

Mr. Don Burnette, Founder and CEO, Kodiak, said that, We have focused on producing an autonomous product that is simple for global innovation leaders to integrate into their networks since our inception, and Maersk is a wonderful fit. Hauling commercial freight allows us to collaborate on integrating Kodiak's autonomous trucking solution into Maersk's operations. We showcase our team's capacity to create new lanes and offer new efficiencies to the entire logistics business as the first autonomous trucking company to develop this new commercial route between Houston and Oklahoma City.

Autonomous trucking technologies have the potential to alleviate the transportation industry's long-term concerns. According to the American Trucking Association, the trucking sector is facing a driver shortage of approximately 78,000 people. Based on current driver demographic trends, the ATA expects that, as well as projected growth in freight demand, the shortage could swell to more than 160,000 over the next decade.

Safety remains a recurring issue in the transportation business as well. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data, 94% of crashes are caused by human error. Kodiak's autonomous trucking system is built on safety and performance. Each vehicle is outfitted with 18 different sensors, including cameras, radar, and lidar, which give the platform a 360-degree picture of the truck. The vehicle checks the performance of over 1,000 safety-critical processes and components in both the autonomous stack and the underlying truck platform every tenth of a second. The trucks learn in tandem, with system changes shared with the entire fleet at the same time, and are not distracted by the environment.

Maersk and Kodiak will continue to explore future avenues for collaboration across Maersk’s growing North American logistics network.

About Kodiak Robotics, Inc.
Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 to develop autonomous technology that carries freight forward so people, partners, and the planet thrive. The company is developing an industry-leading technology stack purpose-built for long-haul trucks, making the freight industry safer and more efficient. Kodiak's unique modular hardware approach integrates sensors into a streamlined sensor-pod structure that optimizes for perception, scalability, and maintainability.