CEVA Logistics is teaming with Kodiak Robotics Inc. to deliver freight autonomously between Dallas Fort-Worth and Austin in Texas as well as Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma City in Oklahoma. The company partnership is the first to deliver freight autonomously in the state of Oklahoma and is a critical step toward the long-term goal of integrating Kodiak’s technology into CEVA’s North American truck fleet.

“CEVA is committed to working alongside leading automation and robotics suppliers—like Kodiak, with its proven autonomy technologies—to unlock value for our customers’ supply-chain operations,” said Shawn Stewart, President & Managing Director, North America, CEVA Logistics. “At CEVA, we define innovation as the implementation of new ideas with business impact, and our partnership with Kodiak will deliver more business value to our customers, especially in light of the current supply-chain crisis and the ongoing driver shortage.”

CEVA delivered its first load with Kodiak in November and is moving goods weekly on the 200-mi (320-km) freight lane between Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin. The companies expanded the partnership in February with a new 200-mi route on the freight-rich Interstate 35 corridor between a CEVA facility in Dallas and the delivery point in Oklahoma City. On both routes, a Kodiak autonomous tractor pulls a CEVA trailer filled with consumer products.

“CEVA is at the forefront of global logistics innovation and has recognized early on that the trucking industry will see the first widespread adoption of self-driving technology,” said Don Burnette, Founder and CEO, Kodiak. “Kodiak and CEVA are focused on serving Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, and Oklahoma City because they cover some of the richest freight corridors in the U.S.”

In November, Kodiak announced it had raised $120 million in an oversubscribed Series B fundraising round for a total of $160 million raised to date. The round includes investments from SIP Global Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, CRV, Muirwoods Ventures, Harpoon Ventures, StepStone Group, Gopher Asset Management, Walleye Capital, Aliya Capital Partners, and others. Recent investments previously announced include Bridgestone Americas and BMW i Ventures.

“Our Series B drives us into hyper-growth so we can double our team, our fleet, and continue to scale our business,” said Burnette. “With the Series B, we will further accelerate towards launching our commercial self-driving service with our partners in the coming years to help address these critical challenges.”

The Series B funds will be used during the year to double employee headcount by adding at least 85 new people to the team, expand autonomous service capabilities from coast to coast, and add a minimum of 15 new trucks for a total of at least 25 autonomous vehicles.

In September, Kodiak unveiled its next-generation autonomous truck, which uses a modular and discrete sensor approach to vastly simplify installation and maintenance while increasing safety. The Kodiak Driver is built for long-haul trucks, incorporating Luminar’s Iris LiDAR, ZF’s Full-Range Radar, Hesai’s 360-degree scanning LiDARs, as well as a range of cameras—to capture and process hundreds of megabytes of perception data each second. These sensors are said to allow the truck to “see” long-range and around the vehicle in a variety of weather conditions, enabling safe operation at highway speeds.

For those new to CEVA, it has vast experience in integrating automation and robotics into both its contract logistics and freight management operations. The company says it’s committed to autonomous technology to alleviate the strain on its existing workforce, which numbers more than 2449 drivers for its North American fleet.

CEVA prides itself on its policies and initiatives in CSR (corporate social responsibility) fields. In February, it was awarded a Silver Medal by EcoVadis, one of the world’s largest providers of business-to-business sustainability ratings. Founded in 2007 in Paris, it rates businesses on their sustainability performance based on four themes: environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement.

Under the leadership of CEVA Logistics parent company CMA CGM Group, the company says it is strongly committed to the protection of the environment with a pledge to become net-zero carbon by 2050. Part of this effort offers customers alternative fuel options including biofuel, LNG (liquified natural gas), and biomethane in ocean cargo; sustainable aviation fuels for air cargo; and biofuels and electric vehicles for ground transport.

This season it became the Official Logistics Partner in support of Scuderia Ferrari’s Formula One (and GT) racing activities, ensuring the road and sea shipments for cars and equipment make it to race sites around the world.

Beyond shipments, the partnership strengthens the companies’ other sustainability initiatives. For instance, during the F1 season, CEVA Logistics will use LNG-powered vessels for Scuderia Ferrari’s sea shipments. In addition, Scuderia Ferrari’s F1 engines this year will be powered by ethanol fuel, by 2026 will be using biofuels, and by 2030 Formula 1 aims to be net-zero carbon.