Walmart has been using fully autonomous self-driving trucks for two months: the company shared its experience

Walmart Uses Driverless Trucks To Expand Its Online Grocery Business, Says CNBC.

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Walmart and Silicon Valley startup Gatik said they have driven two self-driving closed-body trucks since August, cruising an 11-kilometer loop daily for 12 hours.

“Being driverless is the holy grail of this technology,” says Gatik CEO Gautam Narang, who founded the company in 2017. “Having the trust of the world's largest retailer has been a huge boost to our business and a validation of our technology, our solutions and our progress.”

Walmart said Monday it has begun using driverless trucks in its online grocery business in an effort to increase throughput and efficiency.

Walmart and Silicon Valley startup Gatik said they have been operating two autonomous van trucks without a driver on a 12-kilometre loop for 12 hours every day since August.

Gatik's trucks are loaded with online grocery orders from Walmart's fulfillment center, called the dark store.

Orders are then shipped to the nearest grocery store, Walmart Neighborhood Market in Bentonville, Arkansas, where Walmart is headquartered.

The program began in December 2020 after receiving approval from the Arkansas State Highway Commission.
The partnership is focused on the so-called middle mile - the transportation of goods in the supply chain, most often from a warehouse to a fulfillment center or from a warehouse to a retailer.

“We are thrilled to work with Gatik to achieve this industry-first driverless milestone,” said Walmart Senior Vice President Tom Ward in a press release about the project. “Working with Gatik, we found that autonomous box trucks offer an efficient, safe and sustainable solution for transporting goods on repeat routes between our stores.”

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Walmart, the nation's largest grocery retailer, is testing Gatik autonomous vehicles as part of its move to a "hub and spoke" grocery delivery model, with dark stores located closer to consumers and used to serve multiple retailers. shops.

Walmart said the use of automated vehicles will also give store associates more freedom to perform "higher-level" tasks, including picking and packing online orders and assisting customers.

“The old delivery architecture, where you have a giant distribution center four or five hours away from the end consumer, doesn't work anymore. Grocers are forced to build these fulfillment centers closer to the customer, and once you get closer to the customer, you have to reduce the size of your warehouse,” Narang said. -As size decreases, the need for repeated trips from fulfillment centers to pick-up points increases. That’s where we come in.”

Supermarket chain Kroger has been testing autonomous delivery with startup Nuro since 2018 and said it has already completed thousands of last-mile deliveries in Houston, Texas.

Kroger is also using automated warehouses to launch online grocery deliveries in Florida and other states where it has no retail outlets.

Albertsons, which operates supermarkets such as Safeway and Kings, is testing last-mile delivery with startup Tortoise in Northern California.

Remote-controlled Tortoise carts are filled with groceries by the store's staff. The carts are then remotely controlled by Tortoise “drivers” who use an Xbox controller to navigate to the customer's home.

Gatik said its autonomous vehicles could also reduce logistics costs by as much as 30% for grocery businesses.

Walmart and Gatik are conducting similar tests in the New Orleans area, using an electric truck with a driver to move online grocery orders from a Walmart supermarket to a consumer pick-up point.

Narang said AV can also help companies mitigate the impact of the country's labor shortages on supply chains outside of the grocery business.

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“This solution is very relevant for different supply chains, different types of logistics,” Narang said. -It's not just a labor shortage. It’s all about improving efficiency and reducing operating costs.”

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