Gatik provides a driverless delivery service from the warehouse of products to the retailer’s outlet in Toronto, Canada. Gatik is founded by a US-based trio who are of Indian origin. It is the last mile B2B operation — mostly from the warehouse to a retail centre. In the warehouse, the employees we hand-held devices where they punch in the code to command the truck to take off after collecting products. The truck runs on the predefined route, navigating the urban traffic. It reaches the destination and comes to the bay. It is unloaded and then the employee punches in the code for the truck to return.
The consignments can be moved multiple times a day. This in fact is a complementary service to their regular delivery network. The service can also cater to online buyers, who can have a wide variety of products from the warehouses direct.
Gatik is unique since it provides commercial deliveries on a daily basis.
Walmart is the American customer of Gatik. In addition, in the US Gatik serves Fortune 500 companies such as Georgia-Pacific. There is growing consumer demand, and there is shortage of drivers. Gatik moves the supply chain closer to the end consumer.
Gatik was founded in Mountain View, California. It later extended itself to Canada. It exploits AI/ML skills available in Canada. It has a workforce of 500, and is still adding employees.
The autonomous driving software track has been developed in-house. Their fleet has 30 light to medium-duty trucks. They are on lease. They are custom-made. They work closely with regulatory authorities, and brief them about the technology used.
Though the trucks are autonomous, they are not without supervision. There are remote supervisors to monitor multiple trucks for any issues on the route. However, supervisors cannot drive the trucks. Remote driving is dangerous. The controls are all on the trucks.
The company wants to expand the fleet ten fold. They want to cover more locations in the US and Canada.
Gatik pioneered driverless truck for Walmart in Bentoville, Arkansas in August 2021. Since then, it has travelled a long distance