Kodiak AI and Charger USA Advance Autonomous Freight Transportation in Texas

Kodiak AI and Charger USA announced a collaboration to develop autonomous freight transportation operations in Texas, with trucks equipped with the Kodiak Driver autonomous driving system. The technology is already being used to transport refrigerated and dry goods for consumer goods, food, and beverage customers along a 435-mile route between Charger’s terminals in Dallas and Laredo.

The companies completed their first delivery service on September 8, marking another step in the expansion of autonomous driving for long-haul freight transportation.

Autonomous Freight Transportation Between Dallas and Laredo

The operations currently include a safety driver on board. However, Kodiak AI and Charger USA plan to move toward fully driverless operations once Kodiak completes its so-called “safety case,” a structured process through which the company gathers evidence to demonstrate that its autonomous driving system is capable of operating safely within a specific operational domain.

The Dallas-Laredo route also represents Kodiak’s first operation serving Laredo, one of the United States’ main land-based gateways for international trade. The high volume of consumer goods, food, and beverages transported through this border crossing makes the route a strategic corridor for testing autonomous freight transportation solutions.

Charger, meanwhile, operates as an asset-based carrier in North America, with temperature-controlled freight transportation among its core services—an especially relevant segment for food and beverage products.

Andy Khera, president of Charger USA, explained that combining its transportation management system (TMS), managed transportation services, and the Kodiak Driver will enable the companies to build a highly automated ecosystem. According to the company, this could help maintain more stable transportation capacity in response to changes in labor markets and freight demand.

Kodiak Driver Seeks to Expand

The collaboration also includes the possibility of expanding operations to other routes across Charger’s network as the company integrates the Kodiak Driver into its own fleet.

Don Burnette, founder and chief executive officer of Kodiak, noted that Charger entered the partnership with clear objectives regarding the use of autonomous technology and the requirements that need to be met before expanding its deployment. For Kodiak, the Dallas-Laredo route represents an opportunity to extend its technology to a new freight corridor.

Since December 2024, Kodiak’s autonomous technology has been operating commercially in the Permian Basin, where customer-owned trucks can perform certain operations with no person inside the cab. The company commercializes its technology through a Driver-as-a-Service model, in which Kodiak deploys the Kodiak Driver on trucks owned and operated by its customers.

Long-Haul Autonomous Freight Transportation

Kodiak AI plans to launch its long-haul autonomous service before the end of 2026. The company reported that its Autonomy Readiness Measure—a metric used to measure the percentage of claims and evidence in its safety case that have been materially completed—reached 96% by the end of September 2026.

The collaboration with Charger USA therefore positions Texas as a key setting for the development of autonomous freight transportation and the future expansion of driverless trucks across long-haul freight corridors.