Sam's Club to get 24/7 deliveries from fleet of self-driving trucks in Texas
Gatik's autonomous trucks are 'purpose built for urban, semi-urban, and highway environments'
Goal is to meet consumer expectation, make supply chain more ‘efficient’: Gatik CEO
Gatik CEO and co-founder Gautam Narang shares company’s success as he announces partnership with Georgia-Pacific, unveils details about company business model and its groundbreaking vehicles.
A network of nearly three dozen Sam's Clubs in the Dallas area will start getting deliveries from self-driving trucks 24 hours a day, seven days a week, autonomous technology startup Gatik announced Tuesday.
"By replacing traditional tractor trailers with autonomous box trucks, our solution will establish a more responsive and flexible logistics network, increasing the cadence of delivery runs and the flow of goods, while reducing logistics costs and enabling near real-time inventory fulfillment," Gatik wrote in a blog post.
The fleet of autonomous trucks will deliver Georgia-Pacific goods such as paper towels, napkins, and tableware along "known, repeatable routes," using technology that is "purpose built for urban, semi-urban, and highway environments," the company said.
One of Gatik's self-driving trucks sits outside a Sam's Club. | Fox News
Sam's Club's parent company, Walmart, has already started using Gatik's autonomous trucks to make deliveries between fulfillment centers and a Neighborhood Market retail store in Bentonville, Arkansas.
TESLA RECALLING 54,000 FULL SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES THAT MAY RUN STOP SIGNS
Walmart isn't the only retailer to adopt autonomous technology, as Kroger partnered with Nuro to deliver fresh groceries with the company's completely electric self-driving vehicles.
A Walmart Associate unloads goods from a Gatik truck outside Walmart's Neighborhood Market in Bentonville, Arkansas. (Walmart/Gatick / Fox News)
Uber and Alphabet's Waymo, two tech giants that once battled in court over autonomous technology, also announced a partnership this week to "deploy autonomous trucks at scale on the Uber Freight network."
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
"Both companies envision a future where autonomous trucks tackle the long-haul portion of driving, easing some of the burden of the increasing demand for freight while also enabling drivers to shift into short-haul jobs that enhance the occupation’s quality of life," Uber wrote Tuesday.