PepsiCo’s partnership with autonomous vehicle startup Gatik marks a major step for driverless freight operations, raising new questions about trucking jobs, safety and the accelerating use of AI-driven automation.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
PepsiCo is moving forward with a fleet of driverless delivery trucks in a major test of autonomous freight operations on U.S. public highways, according to a new report.
The company is partnering with autonomous vehicle startup Gatik to deploy 35 driverless trucks, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The rollout is reportedly the first time a U.S. company has publicly disclosed that it is using autonomous trucks on public highways.
The vehicle highlighted by The Wall Street Journal weighs 26,000 pounds and is equipped with cameras, radar and lidar technology. Gatik has designed multiple driverless trucks and has secured $600 million in revenue through multiyear contracts with several companies, according to the report.
PepsiCo Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Jim Farrell said the company’s autonomous trucking operations are already being used in active delivery networks.
“These operations that we’re running today are real,” Farrell said. “They are running in multiple markets in a live network, not like some experimental test environment.”
The rollout comes as major companies across transportation, logistics and manufacturing are moving quickly toward automation. For PepsiCo, the driverless fleet represents a shift in how goods may be moved between distribution points, stores and other facilities. For the trucking workforce, it adds new urgency to concerns that automation could displace human drivers.
Some of PepsiCo’s thousands of truckers are represented by unions, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The union has historically opposed the autonomous vehicle industry and has called for guardrails on the technology. Teamsters reportedly spent more than $2.5 million on lobbying in 2025.
PepsiCo, Gatik and Teamsters did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Safety remains a central issue for the autonomous vehicle industry. The sector has faced high-profile problems in recent years, including Waymo’s recall of more than 1,200 self-driving taxis after various collisions in May 2025. Tesla also recalled more than 360,000 self-driving cars in February 2023.
Farrell said PepsiCo’s driverless trucks have reached 99% “on-time arrival performance,” excluding uncontrollable factors such as traffic and weather, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Federal Highway Administration suggests shippers and receivers should expect truckers to arrive on time about 95% of the time.
The driverless truck deployment is part of a broader automation race affecting multiple industries. Companies are increasingly using artificial intelligence to streamline manufacturing, logistics and other labor-intensive operations.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos reportedly discussed raising $100 billion to acquire manufacturing companies and use AI to improve their operations through “Project Prometheus” last March. Goldman Sachs projected on June 3 that Big Tech’s AI spending will likely reach $5.3 trillion from fiscal years 2025 through 2030.
Public concern over AI’s growing role remains high. A Pew Research Center survey from September 2025 estimated that more than half of Americans are more worried than excited about AI’s expanding presence in everyday life.
PepsiCo’s driverless truck rollout shows that automation is no longer limited to pilot programs or controlled testing environments. Autonomous delivery vehicles are now operating in live commercial networks, bringing the debate over safety, jobs and artificial intelligence directly onto American roads.
Featured Image Credit: Gatik Website
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