Kodiak Truck Drives Driverless for First Time

After six years of development, a Kodiak semi-trailer truck drove driverless through Texas for the first time. Together with Atlas Energy Solutions Inc., a company that supplies energy suppliers with proppants – as they are needed for fracking, it is being driven on a very hot, dry and dusty route in West Texas over unpaved roads.

Not only is the area known as the Permian Basin remote with desert-like temperatures, it is also relatively dangerous for drivers. Although only two percent of the population of Texas lives in this part of the state, seven percent of all traffic fatalities occur there.

In recent years, Kodiak has not limited itself to the development of autonomous truck driving on highways, but has also focused on unpaved roads. This is now being applied to Atlas’ private route network in Texas. By the end of the year, the trucks will be in continuous operation at Atlas 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This article was also published in German.