Gatik Signs Deal to Distribute Customer Orders out of Kroger’s Dallas Facility

Transportation logistics company Gatik earlier this month announced a multi-year commercial collaboration to transport customer orders within Kroger’s Dallas distribution network.

Under the collaboration, Gatik’s medium-duty autonomous box trucks will transport fresh, customer-favorite products from a Kroger Customer Fulfillment Center (CFC) in Dallas, Texas, to multiple retail locations.

Gatik said its delivers goods safely and efficiently using its fleet of light and medium-duty trucks. The company focuses on short-haul, B2B logistics for Fortune 500 customers including Kroger, Walmart, Loblaw, and Georgia-Pacifi. Gatik’s Class 3-6 autonomous box trucks are commercially deployed in multiple markets including Texas, Arkansas, and Ontario.

Gatik’s autonomous trucks each feature a cold chain-capable 20’ foot box designed to transport ambient, refrigerated, and frozen goods quickly, safely, and efficiently. The collaboration involves consistent, repeated delivery runs multiple times per day, seven days per week across Kroger’s Dallas distribution network while unlocking the advantages of autonomous delivery for Kroger’s customers: Increased speed and responsiveness when fulfilling e-commerce orders, reduced costs, and dedicated capacity across the supply chain’s middle mile. The operations will launch in Q2, 2023.

“Kroger’s commitment to redefining service levels for its customers through innovative technology meant that our collaboration came together very quickly,” said Gautam Narang, co-founder and CEO, Gatik. “We’re deeply familiar with operating our autonomous fleet within the Dallas ecosystem, and we’re very excited to bring that experience to support Kroger in its mission to reshape the future of goods delivery.”

“We are so excited to see Gatik trucks starting to deliver groceries throughout our Dallas division,” said Raúl Bujalil, vice president of supply chain strategy and technology enablers at Kroger. “These autonomous box trucks will help us continue our commitment to creating a seamless shopping experience - where customers can access their favorite fresh foods, with zero compromise on value or convenience.”

Gatik trucks help address e-commerce demands

Gatik said its autonomous middle mile solution will help support Kroger by meeting customers’ immediate needs whether they shop online or in-store, providing access to goods faster and more reliably than ever before.

Since launching commercial operations in 2019, Gatik has delivered half a million customer orders, leveraging its commercial-grade autonomous technology to transport freight safely and efficiently on the middle mile. Gatik provides Autonomous Transportation as a Service (ATaaS) daily for customers across multiple markets including Arkansas and Ontario, and is continuing to densify its commercial presence in the state of Texas to meet intense customer demand.

Founded in 2017 by veterans of the autonomous technology industry, Gatik said it partners with industry leaders including Isuzu, Ryder, Goodyear and Cummins and has offices in Mountain View, Dallas-Fort Worth and Toronto. In 2022, Gatik was recognized as a TIME Best Invention, named to Forbes’ list of America’s Best Startup Employers and by Fast Company as a World Changing Idea. Gatik has also been recognized as a Forbes AI 50 company.