More and more sectors of the food and farming industry are looking to autonomous technology to cut costs, and emissions and address labor challenges.
Joining the adoption of autonomous equipment, Tyson Foods will be making deliveries in refrigerated trucks beginning this week. The new trucks will be running in partnership with Gatik to make deliveries 18 hours per day of Jimmy Dean and BallPark products to distribution and storage facilities in the Rogers and Springdale, Ark. areas.
It all seems a little weird, but the introduction will only include short-haul deliveries for now. The company’s announcement follows third-quarter losses and the closure of four poultry plants across three states, including Arkansas.
The deployment will introduce Gatik trucks equipped with commercial-grade autonomous technology to the Tyson supply chain, operating on predetermined short-haul, repeated routes to support fast and efficient product flow from plant to storage facilities. Tyson hopes that with a nationwide truck driver shortage, these autonomous trucks will prove an innovative and safe option while elevating drivers to other transportation positions within Tyson.
Gatik is already delivering for Kroger’s Customer Fulfillment Center in Dallas, Texas.
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“At Tyson Foods, we are innovating and using automation throughout our business, including in transportation,” said Patrick Simmons, vice president of transportation for Tyson Foods. “This partnership allows us to strategically place our drivers where they are needed most while still reliably and safely transporting protein from the plant to distribution centers.”
Tyson says that the partnership will increase asset utilization with short-haul logistics, inventories, while increasing efficiency and reducing emissions.
