J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell said Wednesday it had surpassed 50,000 miles in an autonomous long-haul delivery partnership with autonomous truck company Kodiak Robotics of Mountain View, California, and tire supplier Bridgestone Americas of Nashville.
The companies launched the delivery route in January. Under the partnership, J.B. Hunt works with Kodiak to transport Bridgestone tires between South Carolina and Dallas. The long-haul portion of the route is 750 miles between Atlanta and Dallas, and two Kodiak drivers are in the cab for safety overview.
The companies said the route has been completed accident-free and with perfect pick-up and delivery times. The partnership has since announced additional deliveries along the original route.
“Working closely with Kodiak and Bridgestone, we were able to deliver a complementary solution that integrates autonomous technology with day-to-day operations while also solving backhaul challenges,” J.B. Hunt Chief Operating Officer Nick Hobbs said in a news release. “It’s a great example of how our mode-neutral approach can leverage multiple service offerings to produce efficient, value-driven solutions unique to our customers’ needs.”
The collaboration uses Bridgestone tire technology and Kodiak’s autonomous trucks, coupled with J.B. Hunt’s network of 14,000 trailers.
“Our ability to build an autonomous delivery program with J.B. Hunt, one of America’s best-respected and most innovative trucking fleets, and Bridgestone, a longstanding Kodiak investor and a leader in transportation technology, makes this a perfect collaboration,” Kodiak CEO Don Burnette said. “Demonstrating the efficacy of our middle mile model and improving operational efficiencies for our customers sets us all on a course for rapid and sustainable growth.”
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