Kodiak Robotics Inc. last week said it is partnering with French freight management giant Ceva Logistics to take goods in self-driving trucks across Texas and Oklahoma.
It expands what the Mountain View autonomous trucking startup and others are doing in and around Texas, which the Dallas Business Journal reports has become a hub for the testing of such activities.
Other Bay Area companies running truck routes in Texas include Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo (Nasdaq: GOOGL), Aurora Innovation Inc. (Nasdaq:AUR), Gatik Inc. and Embark Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: EMBK).
Kodiak's new partner, Ceva, is a subsidiary of French shipping company CMA CGM S.A., the world's third-largest container shipping company. The companies started teaming on routes in November on a 200-mile route between Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin. Last month they started transporting goods between Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma City, which is also a roughly 200-mile route.
While the trucks operate autonomously, they have a safety driver behind the wheel to take control if needed.
"Kodiak and CEVA are focused on serving Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and Oklahoma City, because they cover some of the richest freight corridors in the U.S.," Kodiak CEO Don Burnette said in Wednesday's announcement.
Texas has become a testing center for such activities because its weather and regulation are favorable to the companies involved.
Kodiak has raised about $168 million from investors who include Bridgestone Americas, BMW i Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, CRV and Battery Ventures. PitchBook Data said it was valued at about $500 million after a Series B round in October.
