Ryder System, Inc. and Kodiak Robotics Inc. partnered to establish their first truckport for autonomous trucks, to serve routes between Houston, Dallas and Oklahoma City. This partnership will use Ryder’s service network to enable the commercialization and scaling of Kodiak’s autonomous trucking solutions, the companies said. Currently, Kodiak trucks operate all routes with safety drivers, but it plan to introduce its first driverless operations along its Dallas-Houston route later this year, using the Ryder facility as a launch point.
While this truckport initially focuses on the establishment of Kodiak’s Houston facility, the companies see opportunity to use Ryder’s service network to support additional truckport operations and to provide on-site technician and maintenance services.
“Ryder’s vision is to build out a portfolio of key service elements that support the safe deployment and maintenance of autonomous trucks,” says Karen Jones, executive vice president and head of new product development at Ryder. “By managing the unique logistics of autonomous operations as well as the servicing needs of autonomous trucks, we continue to build on our expertise. And by collaborating with leaders in the space like Kodiak, we advance our shared goal of facilitating the commercialization of autonomous technology.”
“Ryder’s industry-leading fleet services and vast footprint of service locations makes it an ideal partner as we scale autonomous trucks,” said Don Burnette, founder and chief executive officer of Kodiak. “Expanding our network of truckports with Ryder will enable us to operate autonomous trucks at scale with our customers. Our goal is to build the elements we need for driverless operations, and having this Houston location up and running is a critical component of that plan. The Ryder facility will serve as a base to conduct testing and to validate the truckport operational model. Leveraging existing infrastructure eliminates the need for Kodiak to build and develop real estate, and it allows us to focus on launching and scaling driverless truck deployment.”
