| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Vehicular automation, delivery |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Founder | Gautam Narang Arjun Narang Apeksha Kumavat |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Gautam Narang (CEO) |
| Website | gatik |
Gatik is an autonomous trucking and delivery company that operates in the United States and Canada. [1] The company creates Level 4 autonomous trucking technology for vehicles making middle mile commercial deliveries. [2] [3] [4] Gatik is currently headquartered in Mountain View, California and has offices in Arkansas, Fort Worth, Texas and Toronto, Ontario. [5] [6]
Gatik was established in 2017 by Gautam Narang, [7] Arjun Narang, [8] and Apeksha Kumavat. [9] Around this time, Texas passed a law allowing autonomous vehicles to drive on its roads and highways. [3] The company operated in stealth mode for the first two years to develop its technology. [10] [7]
Gatik approached Arkansas House representative Austin McCollum in 2019 to introduce legislation allowing for an autonomous vehicle pilot program. The bill was signed into law by Asa Hutchinson. [11] Gatik and Walmart consequently launched a partnership in 2019, beginning pilot program operations consisting of a 1.8-mile route between a fulfillment center and the retailer's Bentonville, Arkansas location. [7] [11] [12] [13] Initially, a “driver” rode in the driver’s seat of the self-driving trucks; by 2021, the vehicles went driverless, with the safety driver moving to the passenger seat. Safety drivers can still manually stop the vehicle if the autonomous driving system disengages. [11] By November 2021, Gatik was operating 21 vehicles. [14] [15]
In January 2020, Gatik deployed Canada's first autonomous delivery fleet with supermarket chain Loblaw in Ontario, Canada. [16]
The company began making grocery deliveries for PC Express in Brampton, Ontario on a 13-mile route as of October 5, 2022. [17] [18] The deliveries were made using autonomous trucks with no safety driver behind the steering wheel. [19] Gatik is now used by Kroger and Tyson Foods for this purpose. [20] [21] [22]
Gatik focuses on medium-distance deliveries, known as the middle mile, using Level 4 autonomous trucks to transport groceries and other goods between distribution centers, micro-fulfillment centers and retail locations. [23] [24] [25] Gatik's Level 4 autonomous trucks operate without a safety driver on repeated routes. [26] [27]
The company began making its first deliveries using Ford Transit vans integrated with Gatik's autonomous technology. [28] Gatik introduced an electric version of its Ford Transit delivery truck in February 2021, which was developed together with electric vehicle manufacturer VIA Motors. [29] [30]
In April 2021, Gatik partnered with Isuzu to develop an autonomous medium-duty truck. [31] Gatik integrated its autonomous trucking technology into the Isuzu N-Series truck. [29]
Starting in 2022, Cummins has also worked with Gatik to integrate the company's autonomous vehicle technology into Cummins' powertrain software, enabling the use of drive by wire in autonomous vehicles. [32] The companies installed the technology into Isuzu FTR box trucks. [32]
In 2024, Gatik's trucks started to use data-collecting tires from Goodyear. [33]