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PepsiCo is running 35 driverless trucks on Arizona roads, making it the first major U.S. consumer-goods company to disclose the real-life, large-scale use of autonomous trucks on public roads.
The Wall Street Journal’s Esther Fung writes that the trucks traverse busy highways and local streets transporting snacks and drinks between bottling plants, storage facilities and stores such as Walmart and Dollar General.
While at least nine autonomous-truck companies operate in Southern and South-Central states, many still have human monitors at the wheel, or are only used in limited tests. PepsiCo, using trucks outfitted with sensors and other tech from Gatik, has taken the use of the vehicles a step beyond.
PepsiCo has been working directly with Gatik since 2022. They operated with a safety driver in each truck for a few years, and started driverless runs in June 2025. The trucks have had no accidents on public roads. PepsiCo has five more trucks on the road in Texas and one in Arkansas, and it is looking to expand their use for more short-haul trips to more locations.
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Amazon has over 50,000 electric vans making deliveries across its network, bringing it halfway to its target of 100,000 by 2030. (SupplyChain24/7)
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