Kodiak AI signs first binding on-highway deal to supply 75 driverless trucks to carrier DTL Transport

A binding commitment to customer-owned driverless trucks

Kodiak AI, the Nasdaq-listed autonomous driving developer, announced on 28 October 2026 a definitive agreement with DTL Transport Inc., a Californian long-haul freight carrier, to deploy the Kodiak Driver autonomous driving system in 75 driverless trucks that DTL will own and operate. DTL will pay a per-mile fee for use of the system under Kodiak's Driver-As-A-Service model, according to Kodiak's announcement. ²⁵

Both companies describe the deal as the first publicly announced definitive agreement by an interstate trucking company to operate driverless trucks within its own fleet. The distinction matters because Kodiak's earlier customer-owned deployment, with Atlas Energy Solutions since December 2024, runs in off-road industrial settings in West Texas's Permian Basin rather than on public interstate highways. As of 30 June 2026, the Kodiak Driver was integrated on 35 Atlas trucks, with a commitment to grow that fleet to 100 by mid-2027. ²³⁴

Technology news outlet TechCrunch, which secured an exclusive interview with Kodiak founder and CEO Don Burnette, reports that the deal is Kodiak's first binding commercial contract for driverless big rigs operating on public highways. "This binding agreement reinforces what I have said from the beginning: The Driver-As-A-Service business model is tailor-made for commercial trucking," Burnette said in Kodiak's announcement. ²³

"One of the things that we love about midmarket carriers (like DTL) is that they are able to move with fast execution speed, much more at the speed of a startup or a small company or a tech company like Kodiak, and that they just want to get stuff done," Burnette told TechCrunch. "It's easier for them to integrate into their fleet because they're not as large, and we think that this is a real turning point for the self-driving industry in general." ³

DTL Transport, a family-run business of more than 36 years based in Fresno, California, operates a fleet of more than 100 trucks hauling dry and refrigerated freight, including produce for several of the largest United States grocery chains. "Working with Kodiak underscores our commitment to affirming our leadership position in the industry," said DTL President and CEO Lucky Dosanjh. "By integrating this technology into our fleet, complementing our experienced, professional workforce, we can expand capacity, enhance safety and drive innovation forward." ²⁵¹

Where and when the driverless trucks will run

DTL plans to run its Kodiak-equipped trucks initially on two routes on which Kodiak says it has already conducted testing: Interstate 10 between Dallas and El Paso, Texas, and Interstate 20 between Dallas and Atlanta. Kodiak says additional lanes will be added over time, and that the routes give DTL the opportunity to operate beyond current service hour limitations, a material point for a carrier built on cross-country team runs. ²¹

The announcements did not state when driverless service for DTL itself will begin, nor the value of the contract. TechCrunch, however, reports that Kodiak will deliver the 75 self-driving trucks to DTL Transport starting in 2028. Kodiak's own nearer-term milestone is separate: the company plans to launch driverless highway service by the end of 2026, carrying goods on behalf of IKEA on Interstate 45 between Dallas and Houston, a service it owns and operates itself rather than one delivered to a customer fleet. ³²⁴

TechCrunch also reports Kodiak's next milestone comes just ahead of the DTL announcement: pulling human safety operators out of the cab to begin a driverless highway service in December, with the IKEA freight work on I-45 as the launch operation. Kodiak's announcement also states it expects to close its long-haul safety case and launch driverless operations on public highways in Texas by the end of 2026, a forward-looking statement rather than a confirmed achievement. ³²

How the deal was built: the California pilot

The commercial agreement grew out of a pilot program completed in September 2026, in which the Kodiak Driver autonomously hauled perishable goods for DTL over 225 miles along the I-5 and CA-99 freight corridors between Fresno and Los Angeles. Kodiak says these were the first commercial goods ever autonomously hauled by a Class 8 truck in California, and the deliveries occurred under Kodiak's heavy-duty Autonomous Vehicle Testing permit granted by the California Department of Motor Vehicles earlier in 2026. ²⁵¹

Trade reporting adds precision to the pilot's conditions. TokenPost reports the pilot began on 22 September 2026 on a roughly 225-mile Fresno–Los Angeles route using State Route 99 and I-5 for most of the trip, and that a human safety driver remained behind the wheel throughout. TokenPost notes the pilot was separate from the driverless fleet covered by the new contract, while TechCrunch similarly describes the DTL relationship as forged during that California pilot. ⁴³

"You have to prove out the technology first using your own truck, show them that it works, show them that it's safe, show them that it integrates," Burnette told TechCrunch, describing the progression from Kodiak's own operations to customer-owned fleets. "And then we want to be asset light. We don't want to be in the business of running a trucking company." ³

The commercial model and what it could be worth

Under the Driver-As-A-Service model, customers own and operate their trucks while licensing Kodiak's driving technology, with fees tied to miles travelled. This differs from Kodiak's existing trucking-as-a-service work, in which Kodiak owns and runs the self-driving trucks as a third-party carrier. TechCrunch reports Kodiak currently carries freight daily for TaaS customers including Charger USA, Roehl Transport and Werner Enterprises on a few Texas routes, which Burnette described as still in pilot stage. ²³

Neither company disclosed the contract's value. TechCrunch notes that Kodiak's public 2025 investor presentation forecast annual recurring revenue of 150,000 to 190,000 US dollars per truck, resting on assumptions including a per-mile licensing fee of about 0.97 US dollars and roughly 225,000 miles of annual mileage per truck. On those projections, TechCrunch calculates the DTL deal could generate at least about 11.2 million US dollars in annual recurring revenue once all 75 trucks are delivered; this is an outlet calculation based on forecast assumptions, not a disclosed contract figure. ³

TechCrunch also frames the deal in the context of Kodiak's transition toward an asset-light technology supplier model, selling its technology rather than owning and running trucks, a goal it shares with competitor Aurora Innovation. The outlet reports Kodiak's shares have fallen 87 per cent from their opening-day price since the company went public in September 2025, and describes the contract as a potential revenue boost and positive benchmark. ³

What the announcement does and does not establish

The agreement is binding and definitive according to both companies, but it is an announcement of intent to deploy rather than evidence of completed deployment: no service start date for DTL's driverless operations was given in Kodiak's release, and the DTL pilot ran with a human safety driver on board. The driverless DTL fleet described in the contract has not yet entered commercial service on the announced routes, and the economics rest on Kodiak's investor-facing forecasts rather than disclosed terms. ²⁴¹

Kodiak's release carries extensive forward-looking statement qualifications, cautioning that expectations about the DTL collaboration, geographic expansion and the end-2026 Texas launch rest on assumptions that may not prove correct. Readers should treat the end-of-2026 IKEA launch and the 2028 delivery timeline reported by TechCrunch as forward-looking milestones, not completed events. ²³