Kodiak Robotics has officially handed over two self-driving trucks to customer Atlas Energy Solutions, marking the startup's first commercial launch.
Atlas, a proppant and oilfield logistics provider, received its first Kodiak-powered truck in December and immediately began operating it unmanned in an off-road environment in the remote Permian Basin of West Texas. Don Barnett, Kodiak's founder and CEO, said the company has already used self-driving trucks to deliver 100 packages without a human safety driver behind the wheel. .
“As far as we know, this is the first time that a customer owns and operates a self-driving car rather than an AV company, and we think this is the model of the future,” Barnett told TechCrunch. .
Until now, Kodiak and its competitors in the space, including Aurora Innovation and Wabi, have conducted commercial pilots for customers on highways with human safety drivers behind the wheel. In these pilots, Kodiak-owned trucks operated cargo on behalf of shippers and carriers. However, the goal is to sell the AI Driver-as-a-Solution to companies like Atlas. In other words, Kodiak and other companies don't want to run their own delivery operations in the long term, but rather are focused on selling self-driving technology.
For comparison, in the robotaxis industry, companies such as Waymo and previously Cruise have owned and operated their own ride-hailing services, but Waymo's recent partnerships with Uber and Movit indicate that the company will eventually This suggests that the company may withdraw from operating such services.
Kodiak first announced its partnership with Atlas in 2024 after the companies completed Kodiak's first driverless delivery of frac sand in the remote Permian Basin of West Texas (an unstructured off-road environment). It was July. Kodiak still has active pilots hauling freight on highways and plans to pursue long-haul autonomous trucking, but the deal with Atlas is key to the company's near-term go-to-market strategy. It is a part.
Barnett said self-driving off-road has some unique challenges, such as constantly changing landscapes and no HD maps to rely on, but it's more profitable than highway driving. It is said that it is early.
And that bet is already paying off.
Kodiak currently generates revenue from Atlas through an annual subscription that combines hardware and software. This includes the cost of Kodiak's modular sensors installed in Atlas-owned trucks, as well as self-driving software, monitoring and update services.
“We are using the API [the customer’s transportation management system] “This allows Atlas to use existing tools to effectively tell unmanned trucks where to go,” Barnett said. “But more importantly, they are in control of the logistics. We are not involved in that. , just making sure it's healthy, making sure it's safe, and being able to step in and do maintenance if there's something wrong.”
Atlas, which operates from a 75,000 square mile Permian base in Texas and New Mexico, plans to expand its driverless trucking deployment throughout the year, and Kodiak will support Atlas' operations. An office was established near Odessa, Texas, to do so. The 18,000 square foot facility is home to a team of 12 Kodiak employees. Kodiak intends to increase that number to about 20 by the end of the first quarter.