Tyson Foods Inc., one of the world’s largest food companies, and Gatik AI Inc., a company working in autonomous middle mile logistics, announced a multiyear collaboration to deploy autonomous refrigerated box trucks to bolster Tyson routes in Northwest Arkansas. Operating 18 hours a day, trucks will deliver Tyson, Jimmy Dean and BallPark products, among others, to the company’s distribution and storage facilities in the Rogers and Springdale, Ark., areas.
The deployment will introduce Gatik trucks equipped with commercial-grade autonomous technology to the Tyson supply chain, operating on predetermined short-haul, repeated routes to support fast and efficient product flow from plant to storage facilities. In a nationwide truck driver shortage, these autonomous trucks are an innovative and safe way to add resources that will allow the company to elevate drivers to other transportation positions in the Tyson business, all while ensuring continuous supply chain reliability.