Gatik, a manufacturer of autonomous middle mile logistics, announced a multi-year commercial agreement with global shipping company Pitney Bowes. Under the agreement, Gatik will integrate its medium-duty, Class 6 autonomous box trucks into the Pitney Bowes e-commerce logistics network in the Dallas market beginning in the first quarter of 2023.
Gatik’s autonomous fleet, purpose-built for the middle mile, will establish a continuous, operational loop across the Pitney Bowes e-commerce logistics network in Dallas, making multiple deliveries per day with speed and efficiency.
“Our partnership with Pitney Bowes reinforces the intense demand we are seeing for autonomous trucks that can operate within urban and semi-urban environments,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder of Gatik. “We’re excited to help Pitney Bowes accelerate the transformation of their supply chain by establishing a safe, secure and hyper-responsive autonomous delivery service in the greater-Dallas area.”
The deployment aims to establish a more responsive and flexible logistics network for Pitney Bowes by delivering excellent service levels and reliability, improving speed of deliveries, and providing end-to-end visibility while lowering transportation costs.
“Our partnership with Gatik promotes growth and accelerates the modernization and expansion of our network with technology solutions that are redefining ecommerce logistics,” said Stephanie Cannon, SVP, head of global platform and network for Pitney Bowes. “Gatik’s flexible and responsive logistics network enables us to tailor our Designed Delivery services to provide shippers with unmatched solutions. Pitney Bowes and Gatik’s innovative strategies align to remove cost and complexity from ecommerce logistics to better serve our clients.
During the initial phase, a safety operator will occupy the autonomous vehicles to monitor performance. Data collected from each delivery will be used to improve network design and identify additional opportunities for cost savings and service improvements as Pitney Bowes looks to integrate autonomous vehicles across its national ecommerce logistics network.
The unique advantages of deploying Gatik’s autonomous middle mile solution will help to future-proof logistics operations, increase asset utilization, and support a shift to a more direct, high-frequency transportation network. The result is a more efficient network and faster, more reliable service for Pitney Bowes clients.
It was just November of 2021 when Gatik and Walmart announced the achievement of a fully driverless delivery fleet. In August 2022, Gatik announced a partnership with Cummins on its automonous driving technology. Under the collaboration, Cummins will use its suite of software features to integrate its powertrain solution to enable drive-by-wire for Gatik’s medium-duty Isuzu FTR fleet with the Cummins B6.7 engine.
Gatik continues to grow, having also announced a partnership with ChargePoint for infrastructure and growth into Kansas.
