Autonomous trucking company Kodiak Robotics Inc. today said it has surpassed 50,000 miles of autonomous long-haul trucking, working in collaboration with supply chain solutions provider J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. and tire and sustainable mobility vendor Bridgestone Americas.
The project uses Kodiak autonomous trucks to ship Bridgestone passenger car tires between South Carolina and Dallas. Since launching in January, the autonomous route has been driven with no accidents and achieved 100% on-time pick-up and delivery, Kodiak said. The three companies have now expanded the collaboration to include additional weekly deliveries along the route.
The system uses Kodiak’s hub-to-hub autonomous delivery model, completing the long-haul stretch of the route—approximately 750 miles from Atlanta to Dallas—with Kodiak autonomous driving technology, and then relying on J.B. Hunt drivers to transport the trailers to and from Bridgestone facilities and Kodiak hubs. The companies also use J.B. Hunt’s “360box” pool of 14,000 trailers to secure capacity for the return trip from Dallas, preventing empty miles and improving route efficiency.
“As part of our evolution into a global leader in sustainable mobility solutions, Bridgestone joined forces with Kodiak and J.B. Hunt to prove that autonomous long-haul shipping is more than just a daydream; it’s happening right now,” said Brad Blizzard, Vice President, Logistics Operations and Product Delivery, Bridgestone. “We are excited to be expanding our routes, growing this partnership, and investing in the mobility of the future.”
Bridgestone has been a minority investor in Kodiak since 2021.
