BENTONVILLE, Ark. — A new kind of truck has been making deliveries in northwest Arkansas — without drivers behind the wheel.
Since 2019, a fleet of autonomous trucks operated by Gatik AI Inc., in partnership with Walmart and Tyson Foods, has covered nearly a quarter-million miles on northwest Arkansas roads, according to company documents submitted to the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
At first, a “driver” rode in the driver’s seat of the self-driving trucks. Then in 2021, the first vehicles went driverless, meaning the safety driver moved to the passenger seat. From the passenger seat, they can effectively stop the vehicle at the push of a button if the autonomous driving system disengages…