AUSTIN, Texas — Self-driving trucking company Kodiak Robotics said it has started cooperating with IKEA to ship deliveries using autonomous semi-trucks.
Kodiak is using its self-driving trucks to ship IKEA products between distribution centers in Houston and Dallas seven days a week. That's about a 290-mile drive.
Although the truck is using an autonomous driving system, a truck driver is still sitting behind the wheel, Kodiak said in a release. The driver picks up a loaded trailer at the distribution center and oversees the autonomous delivery.
The self-driving truck company said its goal with the project is to understand how the driving technology could help increase road safety and improve working conditions for truck drivers over longer distances.
Kodiak Founder and CEO Don Burnette said the company is hoping to make the lives of truck drivers easier.
"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," Burnette said in a press release.
The partnership with IKEA isn't Kodiak's first self-driving truck partnership. The company has previously announced autonomous trucking partnerships with other companies, conducting deliveries between Dallas and Austin along with Dallas and Oklahoma City. Earlier this year, in April, Kodiak said it launched self-driving trucks between Dallas and Atlanta.
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