- Walmart said on Monday it has been using driverless trucks to deliver groceries in its home state.
- The retailer has been working with startup Gatik on the program since the end of 2020.
- Driverless-trucking options could help ease supply-chain snags from the labor shortage.
Walmart announced on Monday that it has started using fully driverless trucks to make grocery deliveries.
The retail giant is working with Silicon Valley startup Gatik to move its deliveries toward autonomous trucking. Two Gatik trucks have been running without a safety driver on a seven mile loop, 12 hours a day since August, according to the two companies.
The autonomous trucks take grocery orders from a Walmart fulfillment center to a Walmart Neighborhood Market grocery store in Bentonville, Arkansas. The trip represents the first time that an autonomous trucking company has removed the safety driver from a commercial delivery route on the middle mile anywhere in the world, according to Gatik.
"Through our work with Gatik, we've identified that autonomous box trucks offer an efficient, safe and sustainable solution for transporting goods on repeatable routes between our stores," Tom Ward, senior vice president of last mile at Walmart, said in a press release. "We're thrilled to be working with Gatik to achieve this industry-first, driverless milestone in our home state of Arkansas and look forward to continuing to use this technology to serve Walmart customers with speed."
A video from the company shows its autonomous trucks driving down the road without a safety driver in the front seat.
Walmart said the automated trucks will allow its workers to focus on "higher level" tasks. Someday driverless trucking could help ease national labor shortages. Though, the vast majority of automated trucks still require a licensed operator and are not close to supplementing demand for experienced truckers.
Walmart began the program with Gatik in December 2020. The retailer is one of many chains to test autonomous delivery options. Both Kroger and Albertsons, have also tested self-driving vehicles for last-mile deliveries.
"Other companies are missing the opportunity to focus on a route-by-route and site-by-site growth strategy, from which the technology can be commercialized and profits can be generated in the near-term," Gatik CEO and cofounder Gautam Narang told Insider. "Our fully driverless deployment with Walmart unlocks the full advantages of autonomous delivery for their customers and validates our business model."