PepsiCo partners with Gatik for landmark commercial autonomous freight deployment
The partnership marks a significant step in the adoption of self-driving logistics solutions within the consumer-packaged goods industry, with both companies seeking to improve efficiency, reliability, and sustainability in their supply chain operations.
USA – PepsiCo and autonomous trucking pioneer Gatik have announced a major multi-year strategic partnership to integrate driverless freight into PepsiCo’s North American food and beverage supply chain.
The agreement represents the largest commercial autonomous freight deployment in the logistics industry to date, shifting the narrative of self-driving vehicles from tech demonstrations to large-scale, day-to-day operations.
Under the expanded agreement, Gatik’s fleet of medium-duty autonomous box trucks is already active within PepsiCo’s high-frequency regional transportation networks across Texas, Arizona, and Arkansas.
The driverless trucks move goods daily from site to site, connecting distribution centers to roughly 250 retail locations, including major chains like Walmart and Dollar General.
Notably, Gatik operates fully “driver-out” without a safety driver or human observer inside the cab, relying instead on remote supervisors to oversee high-level routing decisions without direct teleoperation.
The partnership targets the “middle-mile” sector of the supply chain, utilizing dynamic route orchestration to navigate a mix of public highways and suburban surface streets.
This localized approach allows PepsiCo to seamlessly modify route plans, add or remove delivery stops, and adapt to fluctuating warehouse demand in real time.
Gatik, which began piloting operations with PepsiCo in 2022, has maintained a remarkable 98%-99% on-time delivery rate during its initial runs, demonstrating the reliability of autonomous middle-mile logistics.
Jim Farrell, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain at PepsiCo, said the company’s vast network of customers requires a supply chain that is safe, reliable, and built for the future, noting that Gatik brings the autonomous freight technology, commercial experience, and scale needed to strengthen service, add capacity, and move products more consistently.
The autonomous fleet is strategically deployed to high-demand, time-sensitive regional networks that are traditionally difficult to staff due to ongoing driver shortages.
By absorbing these repetitive short-haul routes, the technology injects greater predictability into the network, ensuring retail shelves stay stocked while allowing PepsiCo’s frontline teams to focus on more complex logistics tasks.
The deployment accelerates PepsiCo’s push to build more innovative, resilient, and responsive transportation networks as global consumer goods companies face mounting pressure to reduce logistics costs and improve distribution efficiency amid persistent supply chain disruptions.
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