Autonomous Commercial Vehicles Could hit the Road Ahead of Cars

We may very well see autonomous delivery vehicles before passenger cars (and for much the same reason there’s a huge push to electrify heavy-duty vehicles).

On November 8th, Walmart, in conjunction with B2B logistics provider Gatik, made history with the world’s first autonomous commercial delivery on the “middle mile.”

And what’s the “middle mile”? Essentially, it’s the space from distributors to retail, where wholesalers act as the middleman between producers and brick-and-mortar.

Because e-commerce has taken so much business away from brick-and-mortar, retail is under increased pressure to maximize supply chain efficiency – Amazon’s ability to do same- or next-day deliveries for a large portion of the country has forced traditional retailers to rethink their logistics…

…hence the renewed emphasis on middle-mile deliveries, which occur between distribution centers and stores.

And one of the best ways to maximize the middle mile is through automation.

Then again, this isn’t exactly Gatik’s first rodeo.

“This milestone signifies a revolutionary breakthrough for the autonomous trucking industry,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder, Gatik. “Our deployment in Bentonville is not a one-time demonstration. These are frequent, revenue-generating, daily runs that our trucks are completing safely in a range of conditions on public roads…”

Because Gatik achieved a 100% safety record for so long across their North American operational sites (Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Ontario), they received Arkansas State Highway Commission’s first ever approval to remove the safety driver from autonomous trucks.

And because shorter, urban delivery routes have become more prominent in the last decade – with 65% of routes under 500 miles and a 37% increase in routes < 100 miles – and Gatik specializes in short-haul, B2B logistics, they were a perfect fit.

We’ll be following this developing story closely – we could very well be on the verge of the first large-scale deployment of autonomous vehicles.