While last mile autonomous delivery seems to get most of the limelight, important innovations still happen at the middle mile; the implications of getting this right are huge, given the ever growing number of vehicles serving warehouses nationwide. This week saw Gatik announce a new partnership with Kroger, bringing the company’s medium duty trucks to the grocer’s Dallas-area Customer Fulfillment Center, starting in Q2.

Mountain View-based Gatik already has an impressive roster of customers, including Walmart, Loblaw, and Georgia-Pacific. “We are so excited to see Gatik trucks starting to deliver groceries throughout our Dallas division,” said Raúl Bujalil, VP Supply Chain Strategy and Technology Enablers for Kroger. “These autonomous box trucks will help us continue our commitment to creating a seamless shopping experience - where customers can access their favorite fresh foods, with zero compromise on value or convenience.”

A number of Gatik’s exising partnerships are also in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, including with Sam’s Club and Georgia-Pacific. That familiarity with DFW’s famously bad roads seems to be part of the appeal for Kroger, as it means less time training the fleet and more time moving the meat.

“Kroger’s commitment to redefining service levels for its customers through innovative technology meant that our collaboration came together very quickly,” added Gautam Narang, co-founder and CEO, Gatik. “We’re deeply familiar with operating our autonomous fleet within the Dallas ecosystem, and we’re very excited to bring that experience to support Kroger in its mission to reshape the future of goods delivery.”