Tyson Foods and Gatik to test autonomous trucks in Northwest Arkansas

Tyson Foods is partnering with Gatik to test autonomous middle-mile product shipments. Gatik’s autonomous trucks will allow Tyson to move frozen products between Northwest Arkansas distribution centers and storage facilities.

Gatik’s self-driving vehicle fleet equipped with commercial-grade autonomous technology will operate 18 hours a day, moving fresh and frozen food products from a Tyson Food processing plant to multiple cold-storage facilities including Tyson’s distribution center, where products are organized for final distribution to customers.

“We’re excited to partner with Tyson Foods to reduce cost and complexity within their regional distribution architecture,” said Gatik CEO and co-founder Gautam Narang. “This is a significant moment for Gatik as we introduce Class 7 autonomous box trucks into our fleet. Our partnership with Tyson is poised to drive long-term innovation and supply chain resiliency while delivering tangible, near-term value.”

Tyson recently consolidated its logistics operations from warehousing, transportation business, manufacturing and engineering, with the formation of a new Supply Chain Center that is led by Brady Stewart, the new supply chain officer.

Tyson said the collaboration with Gatik begins this week and it will include multiple trucks with the potential for expansion at the other Tyson locations. The autonomous trucks are equipped with a 26-foot temperature-controlled box purpose-built to transport refrigerated and frozen goods. The vehicles have multiple sensor modalities that are designed for fail-safe short-haul business-to-business operations. A safety driver will initially be present in the cab to monitor the autonomous system and take command of operating the truck if required.

“At Tyson Foods, we are innovating and using automation throughout our business, including in transportation,” said Patrick Simmons, vice president of transportation for Tyson Foods. “This partnership allows us to strategically place our drivers where they are needed most while still reliably and safely transporting protein from the plant to distribution centers.”

Gatik has previously partnered with Walmart in similar operations where online grocery orders were picked at one location and loaded into the autonomous truck that drove to another location for pickup. Walmart and Gatik began those operations in 2019. In 2021, Walmart began testing longer routes – 20 miles – with Gatik and continues to test autonomous middle-mile vehicles with Gatik in Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. In 2022, the partnership was expanded to Kansas for Level 4 driverless median duty trucks on public roads. There are 26 states that have approved driverless operations.

In June of last year, Narang said Gatik chose to focus on the less-sexy middle-mile logistical leg with its driverless truck innovation. He said the technology was developed for fixed routes for the Class 6 box truck which is the first and only one of its kind at work in the U.S. He said the larger long-haul driverless trucks do not work well for moving goods off the highways as they must disengage when entering populated areas. Gatik is designed to take goods from micro-fulfillment centers to stores and can navigate through heavily traveled areas along fixed routes. Gatik has also partnered with Georgia Pacific, Kroger and Sam’s Club.