Kodiak AI has announced a binding commercial agreement to supply 75 driverless trucks for public highway operations to DTL Transport, with deliveries slated for 2028 under a Driver-as-a-Service licensing model.
DTL is a mid-sized California-based trucking company that delivers fresh produce and other goods to supermarket chains. It plans to use the trucks on multiple routes, initially from Dallas to El Paso and from Dallas to Atlanta via I-20. Kodiak has already been testing and operating on those routes.
DTL will own and operate the trucks
Under the agreement, DTL will own and operate the trucks. Kodiak will license the trucks and charge per mile for the duration of the agreement. DTL is Kodiak’s first customer for this model for public highway transportation.
The two companies' partnership began with a test in California last month, when a truck autonomously transported perishable goods for about 225 miles, from Fresno to Los Angeles, via I-5 and California State Route 99. The truck had a safety officer behind the wheel.
Kodiak plans to remove the security people from the cab in December. After that, it wants to start driverless deliveries for Ikea on the I-45 highway between Dallas and Houston.
Revenue forecasts
Kodiak did not disclose the value of the deal with DTL. In a public presentation to investors in 2025, it predicted that each truck could generate between $150.000 and $190.000 in annual recurring revenue. Its calculations are based, among other things, on a charge of about $0,97 per mile and about 225.000 miles per year for each truck.
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If Kodiak’s projections hold true, the 75 trucks could generate at least about $11,2 million in annual revenue when all are delivered. That’s an estimate based on the company’s assumptions, not the known value of the contract. Kodiak’s stock has fallen 87% from its first day of trading.
Other customers and Atlas trucks
Kodiak also has clients including Charger USA, Roehl Transport and Werner Enterprises. In these partnerships, however, Kodiak owns and operates the trucks, handling the haulage on behalf of its customers. It carries freight on three active routes in Texas, but its CEO, Don Burnette, described those operations as still experimental.
Atlas Energy Solutions has been a Kodiak customer since 2024 and already had a binding commercial agreement with the company. However, its trucks operate off-highway in the Permian Basin of West Texas. The agreement with DTL is Kodiak's first such agreement for public highways.
Atlas has 35 driverless trucks equipped with Kodiak's system in operation there. Burnette said the company is on track to have up to 100 trucks operating in the region by mid-2027.
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