Startup in Silicon Valley and Loblaw Companies Ltd. Gatik stated on Wednesday that it would begin using driverless box trucks to deliver some online food orders placed through Loblaw’s PC Express service.
Drivers would still be on hand to take the wheel if necessary, according to Gatik, but they would be waiting in the passenger seat.
In a news release issued today, Gatik stated that since January 2020, Loblaw and Gatik have been moving more than 150,000 autonomous deliveries with a safety driver on board to show the viability of driverless trucks.
The Greater Toronto Area has officially granted the green light for the driverless vehicles to go on “defined, recurring, predictable” routes from a Loblaw distribution centre to five PC Express outlets. Seven days a week, a variety of things will be transported by the trucks.
The company claimed to have an unblemished safety record.
Partnering with Gatik has demonstrated how supply chain efficiencies made achievable by autonomous driving technologies allow more orders to be delivered more frequently for their consumers, according to David Markwell, chief technology and analytics officer at Loblaw.
Being the first in Canada to use this technology and implement a fully autonomous solution is exciting and demonstrates our dedication to improving the consumer experience when grocery shopping, according to Markwell.
This represents the extension of Gatik’s autonomous delivery service to Loblaw’s consumers across numerous sites, according to CEO and co-founder Gautam Narang of Gatik.
“Canada is our newest area where we’ve introduced our fully driverless service, demonstrating once again that B2B short-haul logistics is where the tangible benefits of autonomous delivery are first being realised. It is an honour to reach this technological and commercial milestone with Canada’s top retailer, Narang remarked.
In collaboration with Gatik, Walmart introduced its first autonomous delivery service in the United States in 2021.
Gatik’s autonomous technology was approved during a three-month third-party safety evaluation that Loblaw had commissioned, according the statement.
According to the report, “the assessment included providing degraded/improper sensor data, GPS jamming/spoofing, incorrect acceleration with objects in front, etc.
Loblaw introduces driverless delivery vehicles for PC Express
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