Isuzu North America has partnered with self-driving technology company Gatik to develop fully autonomous medium-duty trucks.

Gatik has offices in Toronto and Palo Alto, Calif., and has automated a fleet of light and medium-duty trucks for shorthaul and middle-mile deliveries working with companies such as Walmart and Loblaw.

Isuzu says the collaboration is the first of its kind in the medium-duty segment. Gatik’s autonomous driving technology will be integrated into several Isuzu N-Series trucks to provide Level 4 autonomous driving, with the first trucks to be deployed this year.

“As customer requirements for the medium-duty product evolve at an increasingly rapid pace, having the ability to collaborate with Gatik, an industry leader in autonomous technology is very exciting for our team,” said Takashi Sadaoka, president and CEO of Isuzu North America Corporation.

“By bringing these two teams together, we can create segment-changing technology while positioning Gatik to safely commercialize autonomous delivery technology at scale,” added Gatik’s CEO and co-founder Gautam Narang. “Isuzu N-Series trucks have been best-sellers in their class in the combined U.S.-Canadian market for 35 consecutive years, making them an ideal fit for our solution. We are excited to combine our industry-leading expertise and bring a long-term, sustainable solution to the supply chain.”