IN Brief:
- DTL has agreed to deploy Kodiak Driver technology in 75 trucks that it will own and operate.
- The initial planned routes cover Dallas–El Paso on Interstate 10 and Dallas–Atlanta on Interstate 20.
- The commercial model charges the carrier per mile; deliveries are reported to begin in 2028.
Kodiak AI has entered a binding agreement with California freight carrier DTL Transport to deploy its autonomous driving system across 75 long-haul trucks owned and operated by DTL. The agreement commits the partners to a future deployment on interstate freight routes; none of the 75 vehicles has been reported as operating in that service. Deliveries are reported to begin in 2028, following further work on the technology and public-highway operations.
DTL intends to begin on Interstate 10 between Dallas and El Paso and Interstate 20 between Dallas and Atlanta, corridors where Kodiak says it has already conducted testing. The company plans to extend the network subsequently. The proposed routes would connect major freight markets along the Sun Belt, but both operating domains and deployment timing remain subject to practical readiness. Kodiak has not given a complete rollout timetable for all 75 trucks, nor a date at which every proposed route will operate without an onboard driver.
Under the Driver-as-a-Service arrangement, DTL retains the fleet ownership and transport operation rather than handing those duties to Kodiak. DTL will own and operate the vehicles, while Kodiak supplies the Kodiak Driver system and charges a per-mile service fee. That separates the carrier’s responsibilities for vehicles, freight and day-to-day operations from the supplier’s provision of automated driving capability. It also means the economics depend on miles operated and service utilisation, rather than an announced one-off system purchase value.
DTL operates dry and refrigerated full-truckload transport and serves grocery, meat processing and fresh-produce customers. Time-sensitive goods can require close coordination between collection windows, transit and destination handling. The operator says automation could complement its existing workforce and add capacity. Those proposed benefits depend on the operational performance, safety arrangements and route availability established during the deployment, none of which is quantified for the full agreed fleet in the available contract statement.
The agreement follows a September freight movement in California in which a Kodiak-equipped Class 8 truck carried perishable goods for DTL over approximately 225 miles between Fresno and Los Angeles on Interstate 5 and State Route 99. The pilot was conducted under a California heavy-duty autonomous vehicle testing permit. Independent reporting identifies a human safety operator as present during that journey, an important distinction from a fully driverless service with nobody in the cab.
Kodiak is separately targeting driverless highway freight operations by the end of 2026, including a planned service carrying goods for IKEA on Interstate 45 between Dallas and Houston. That milestone concerns the company’s broader launch schedule, not the delivery date of the 75 DTL trucks. Kodiak must complete the relevant safety and operational work before removing drivers from its intended public-highway services. Permits, operating domains and route conditions can differ between jurisdictions and deployments.
The company already has experience supplying autonomous systems through a Driver-as-a-Service arrangement in industrial operations. Atlas Energy Solutions owned and operated 35 trucks fitted with Kodiak Driver as of 30 June 2026, with an expansion target of 100 by mid-2027. Those trucks operate in an industrial context, rather than establishing that DTL’s new interstate application is already live. Kodiak also transports freight in vehicles it operates under a separate Trucking-as-a-Service model, which places ownership and fleet-operation responsibilities differently.
Kodiak will be paid for the use of its system on a per-mile basis, while DTL will still bear the operating responsibilities associated with owning the trucks and moving the freight. Nevertheless, neither a contract price nor the realised revenue of this agreement has been disclosed. Projections contained in older investor materials are not evidence of the value or margin of the DTL deal. Actual revenue will be determined by deployed trucks, active mileage, contractual terms and the timing of service introduction.
Long-haul automation also involves work beyond controlling a vehicle at motorway speed. Depots, loading appointments, roadside inspections, incidents and adverse road conditions are managed within an operating system that includes remote support and human staff. Kodiak has not disclosed how DTL will arrange each of those tasks on every intended lane. DTL says it already operates more than 100 trucks, placing the proposed commitment alongside a substantial existing conventional fleet. Vehicle commissioning, route authorisations, freight dispatch arrangements and support procedures must still come together. Deliveries are reported to begin in 2028, and Kodiak has not published a timetable for when the entire 75-vehicle DTL fleet would run without onboard drivers.
