Maersk and Kodiak Robotics have partnered to autonomously haul goods 24 hours a day, four days a week on an autonomous lane between Houston, Texas, and Oklahoma City.

They claim it’s the first commercial autonomous trucking lane, with deliveries beginning in August. The companies deliver eight loads a week, with a safety driver behind the wheel.

“Teaming with Kodiak enables Maersk to stay at the forefront of innovative solutions,” said Erez Agmoni, Maersk’s global head of innovation – logistics and services. “Autonomous trucks will play an instrumental role in digitizing the supply chain. We expect self-driving trucks to ultimately become a competitive advantage for Maersk as we execute on our strategy to provide customers with a sustainable, end-to-end logistics solution across air, land and sea.”

Consumer products are loaded into 53-ft. trailers at a Houston facility and then transported to a distribution center in Oklahoma City.

“Since our founding, we have focused on developing an autonomous product that is easy for global innovation leaders to integrate into their networks, and Maersk is a perfect fit,” said Don Burnette, founder and CEO, Kodiak. “Hauling commercial freight gives us the opportunity to work together to integrate Kodiak’s autonomous trucking solution into Maersk’s operations. As the first autonomous trucking company to establish this new commercial lane between Houston and Oklahoma City, we are demonstrating our team’s ability to introduce new lanes and bring new efficiencies to the entire logistics industry.”