A collaboration between Lowell-based trucking company JB Hunt Transport Services Inc., tire maker Bridgestone Americas and autonomous trucking company Kodiak Robotics Inc. recently completed more than 50,000 miles of autonomous long-distance hauling.

According to a press release Wednesday (August 7), Kodiak’s autonomous trucks will be used on a route to transport Bridgestone passenger car tires between South Carolina and Dallas.

Since its launch in January, the autonomous route has been completed without any accidents and pickups and deliveries have been 100% on time, the statement said. The companies have expanded their collaboration to include additional weekly deliveries along the route.

The long-haul trip from Atlanta to Dallas – about 750 miles and 16 hours – will be completed using Kodiak’s autonomous driving technology, equipped with Bridgestone M719 drive tires and R213 steer tires. JB Hunt will transport the trailers to and from Bridgestone facilities and Kodiak headquarters. The companies will use JB Hunt 360box, a network of more than 14,000 company trailers, to secure capacity for the return trip from Dallas.

“By working closely with Kodiak and Bridgestone, we were able to deliver a complementary solution that integrates autonomous technology into daily operations while solving backhaul challenges,” said Nick Hobbs, Chief Operating Officer and President of Contract Services at JB Hunt. “This is a great example of how our mode-neutral approach can leverage multiple service offerings to develop efficient, value-based solutions specifically tailored to our customers’ needs.”

The following are the steps of the autonomous path:
• JB Hunt transports cargo from Bridgestone’s Aiken Passenger Tire plant in Graniteville, South Carolina, to the Atlanta-area Kodiak Autonomous Trucking Port in Villa Rica, Georgia.

• Kodiak autonomous trucks make the long journey from Atlanta to the Kodiak plant in Lancaster, Texas. A two-person team of Kodiak safety drivers monitors the autonomous truck’s operations.

• JB Hunt transports the load approximately 50 miles from Lancaster to the Bridgestone distribution center in Roanoke.

• For the trip from Dallas to Atlanta, JB Hunt uses its JB Hunt 360box program to identify additional customers with freight needs along the route. Kodiak makes the delivery to Atlanta autonomously. JB Hunt then transports the load to the next destination.

“As we evolve into a global leader in sustainable mobility solutions, Bridgestone has partnered with Kodiak and JB Hunt to prove that long-distance autonomous transportation is more than just a dream; it is already a reality,” said Brad Blizzard, Vice President of Logistics Operations and Product Delivery at Bridgestone. “We are excited to expand our routes, grow this partnership and invest in the mobility of the future.”

JB Hunt provides pickup and delivery services to Bridgestone, a Dedicated Contract Services customer, for multiple customer locations across the United States. In June 2021, Bridgestone announced an investment in and partnership with Kodiak. As part of the partnership, Bridgestone has integrated its smart sensing tire technology into Kodiak’s autonomous trucks, incorporating smart tire technologies to improve the vehicles’ safety and efficiency. Bridgestone is also Kodiak’s exclusive tire supplier.

“Our ability to build an autonomous delivery program with JB Hunt, one of America’s most respected and innovative truck fleets, and Bridgestone, a long-time Kodiak investor and leader in transportation technology, makes this a perfect collaboration,” said Don Burnette, Kodiak founder and CEO. “Demonstrating the effectiveness of our middle-mile model and improving operational efficiencies for our customers puts us all on a course for rapid and sustainable growth.”

JB Hunt (NASDAQ: JBHT) shares traded at $163.93 on Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday’s (August 6) closing price. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has fluctuated between $153.12 and $219.51.

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