More autonomous vehicles are hitting the road as Texas and Fort Worth’s Alliance Airport emerge as a major testing ground for the industry. Gatik operates its Texas hub out of Alliance Airport, where it is expanding its footprint in driverless freight operations. The company says it currentl y has 10 driverless delivery trucks operating on public streets in Texas, Arkansas, and Arizona. Those vehicles are focused on short-haul routes, moving goods from regional distribution centers to store shelves. “Ultimately, we are solving that problem that our customers are facing, which is needing more trucks, more drivers, more freight moved on a daily basis, and autonomy is a way to solve all of those problems while not increasing cost,” said Gatik Head of Innovation Safety Adam Campbell. Campbell said Texas has been supportive of the autonomous vehicle industry and expects job opportunities to grow as the company expands. “While we are at 10 trucks today the plan is to scale to 60 in a few weeks and months to hundreds of vehicles circulating across multiple jurisdictions in the United States this year and beyond,” Campbell said. The Dallas-Fort Worth area and Texas more broadly have become a central testing ground for autonomous vehicle development. The state’s Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Task Force brings together government agencies and private companies working in the space. A Texas Department of Transportation map identifies numerous autonomous vehicle companies operating statewide, from passenger services to long-haul freight operations. “We like to say this is an evolution – not a revolution – tomorrow you’re not going to see thousands of commercial driverless trucks on public roads, but you are going to see a steady improvement or escalation of these vehicles over time,” Campbell said. ...read more read less