Ready for Driverless Trucks? I Took a Ride in Kodiak’s Autonomous Semi

Despite the growing number of players in the space, self-driving vehicles remain far from ubiquitous. In places like the San Francisco Bay Area, hailing a robotaxi is now nearly as easy as requesting an Uber. But in most cities, driverless cars have yet to surface at all.

Still, autonomous vehicles of all sizes and purposes continue to crop up in various regions. Kodiak AI is one company looking to shake up transportation and shipping in the near future. Founded in 2018, it set out to deploy semi trucks on highways without a human behind the wheel, and it’s getting close to realizing that vision.

The company’s autonomous driving system, called the Kodiak Driver, launched in December 2024, and has so far been deployed in 35 fully driverless trucks, which are owned and operated by Atlas Energy Solutions in the Permian Basin in New Mexico and Texas. The trucks haul frac sand, typically used during hydraulic fracking to help keep fractures in rock formations open, from depots to well sites.

Now, Kodiak wants to bring its fully driverless operations to the highway, starting in Texas with services for furniture giant Ikea later this year. That route will operate between Houston and Dallas, spanning 219 miles primarily along Interstate 45.

Massive trucks barreling down highways without a driver may be a daunting vision, but Michael Wiesinger, Kodiak’s chief operating officer, says they’ll make transportation more reliable and efficient.

“Lots of people, unfortunately, are getting killed in traffic, and many of those are related to truck accidents,” he said. “An autonomous truck [has a] 360-degree view of the world, [and] will actually never get drowsy, never get tired, never get distracted. They will make transportation safer.”

In California, Kodiak’s driverless tech is already being used to ship produce from Fresno to Los Angeles, though a safety driver remains behind the wheel, ready to take over as needed.

I visited Kodiak’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, to ride in one of the company’s trucks and see its autonomous tech in action. As per current state regulations, there was still a safety operator onboard, ready to take control of the wheel if necessary. I wasn’t exactly nervous, but his presence nevertheless helped to assuage any trepidation, given how much bigger a semi truck is than a robotaxi from Waymo or Zoox.

During the demonstration, the Kodiak truck easily navigated surface streets, including making tight turns and dodging rows of parallel-parked cars and trailers. We made our way to the highway on-ramp rather slowly and carefully, picking up speed to 55 mph once we hit the roadway. When we really got going, it all felt remarkably ordinary, with the truck weaving through lanes and dodging construction cones without any trouble. After about 20 minutes, the truck navigated to an exit and we made our way back to Kodiak’s HQ. 

Kodiak’s trucks run on diesel — the standard for heavy-duty commercial trucking — which allows them to travel over longer distances than if they were electric, the company notes.

The growth of driverless operations brings with it mounting concern about lost jobs. Kodiak says deploying autonomous vehicles doesn’t mean humans won’t be involved at all.

“Before launching an autonomous truck, it gets inspected, it gets fueled, it gets prepared for the run,” Wiesinger said. “Those preparations are done by humans on the ground.”

He added that Kodiak is collaborating with truck-stop providers to help with refueling as it plans to eventually expand its driverless range across thousands of miles.

Kodiak isn’t the only company working on autonomous trucking. Other players include Aurora, Waabi and Gatik, while Tesla is making a push into this space as well with its all-electric Tesla Semi, which could one day adopt driverless capabilities, too.

Before climbing aboard Kodiak’s semi, it was hard to fathom how a Class 8 heavy-duty truck could navigate the complexities of residential streets and highways. As we passed other cars, I found myself wondering whether those drivers and passengers realized they were sharing the road with what could be the future of long-haul trucking. Then again, some of those folks were cruising in a Waymo robotaxi, so perhaps the existence of autonomous trucks won’t be such a tough pill to swallow for everyone.

Check out the video above for my ride-along in Kodiak’s self-driving truck.

Senior Technology Reporter

Abrar's interests include phones, streaming, autonomous vehicles, internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. In addition to her current role, she's worked for CNET's video, culture and news teams. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all. See full bio