Kodiak plans to begin moving IKEA freight without a driver on a 219-mile section of Interstate 45 in Texas later this year. The service will connect the Houston and Dallas areas and form part of a 292-mile route between IKEA’s Baytown distribution centre and its Frisco store.
The operation is expected to be Kodiak’s first unsupervised long-haul service on a public interstate. It follows four years of autonomous deliveries made with a safety observer, during which more than 1,300 loads covered 750,000 miles.
Those operations produced data on dispatch, arrival timing, dock scheduling and vehicle maintenance. The experience is intended to support a repeatable commercial lane rather than a one-off technology demonstration.
Safety approval sets the timetable
Launch depends on completion of a highway safety case covering the defined operating area. Kodiak reported that 93% of the evidence and claims required for long-haul operations were materially complete at the end of August, up from 84% in February. The company expects to finish the process and begin driverless operations by the end of 2026.
Kodiak has already completed driverless deliveries between Lancaster, Texas, and Houston without intervention from the safety observer, including on surface roads. Its commercial driverless trucks in the Permian Basin are not expected to use public roads until early 2027.
The project highlights a cautious commercial path for autonomous freight: proven lanes, established shipper relationships and validated procedures at both ends of the journey.
A multilingual professional experienced in Europe, Canada, and China, Herbert has developed invaluable networks in the automotive and energy industries. He has led high-profile projects involving ENBW, Mercedes-Benz Group, Siemens Group, and the Fraunhofer Institute.