Autonomous trucks: which startup is ahead?
In our autonomous vehicle market deck, you will find everything you need to understand the market
SUMMARY
Aurora is the autonomous-truck startup ahead overall today.
The lead comes from breadth rather than one spectacular number. Aurora is the only independent company combining sustained driverless Class 8 freight, long public-highway routes, several customers, newer production hardware and a credible path toward hundreds of trucks.
The race has a clear top three, but they are winning different markets. Aurora leads long-haul highways, Gatik leads repetitive regional delivery, and Kodiak has gone furthest in putting driverless trucks inside a customer-owned fleet.
The reporting is uneven, so raw figures should not be compared mechanically. Aurora’s miles measure highway exposure, Gatik’s orders measure commercial repetition, and Kodiak’s paid hours measure how intensively a customer is using the vehicles.
Gatik has built the most capital-efficient commercial story. It has raised far less than Aurora, Waabi or Stack AV, yet it reports more than $600 million in contracted revenue and multi-state driverless work for major retailers and consumer-goods companies.
Kodiak may have chosen the smartest first deployment market. Oilfield logistics is repetitive, hard to staff and unusually sensitive to vehicle uptime, which helps explain why Atlas kept expanding its fleet instead of treating the project as a one-off trial.
Inceptio’s 500 million commercial kilometres show what scaled autonomous-truck adoption can look like, but they are not equivalent to Level 4 driverless freight. Most of that mileage still relies on a responsible human driver.
Aurora’s biggest advantage may soon shift from software to industrial execution. Its lead will become harder to catch if Roush, International, Volvo and Continental can turn the current system into hundreds of dependable factory-built trucks.
Waabi and PlusAI remain dangerous because their strategies could scale quickly through adaptable software and truck-manufacturer partnerships. For now, though, both are asking the market to give substantial credit for launches that have not happened yet.
Stack AV is the hardest company to rank. Its founders and SoftBank backing make it credible, but the public evidence is too thin to place it above companies already carrying freight without a driver.
The ranking can still change quickly. Gatik needs to prove it can move into heavier freight, Kodiak needs a driverless interstate launch beyond the Permian Basin, and Waabi needs to turn its technical promise into a real commercial service. Until one of those happens, Aurora stays in front.
This market map, featured in our autonomous vehicle market deck, highlights top companies and startups in the autonomous vehicle market
Which autonomous truck startups are we really comparing?
Aurora, Gatik, Kodiak, Waabi, PlusAI and Stack AV make up the main independent Level 4 autonomous-trucking field today.
We include companies trying to operate freight trucks on public roads without a driver. That covers long-haul Class 8 trucks, regional delivery vehicles and industrial routes that connect with public roads. The vehicles differ, but every company ultimately wants its software to handle the driving without someone sitting behind the wheel.
Aurora and Kodiak are now publicly traded, though both still operate like specialist autonomous-driving startups. Gatik focuses mainly on repetitive regional routes. Waabi and PlusAI sell the idea of a virtual driver that truck manufacturers can install across different vehicles. Stack AV is developing a Class 8 system with more than $1 billion of SoftBank backing, but it reveals far less about its progress.
Inceptio sits just outside the main ranking. Its trucks have covered 500 million commercial kilometres in China, giving it vastly more customer mileage than any American competitor. Most of that activity uses Level 3 technology, where a human driver remains responsible when the system requests a takeover. We use Inceptio as a commercial benchmark without treating those kilometres as equivalent to fully driverless ones.
Torc is another serious competitor, although Daimler Truck has owned it since 2019. Outrider, Fernride and ISEE concentrate mainly on yards, ports or other controlled sites. Einride combines electric freight services with autonomous vehicles, but its disclosed driverless public-road scale remains too limited for the core comparison.
Funding figures also require caution. Private rounds, public listings, strategic investments and conditional commitments are often combined even though they represent different kinds of capital. The table below shows approximate cumulative funding or financial backing rather than pretending every dollar is directly comparable.
| Startup | Main autonomous truck strategy | Approximate disclosed funding or backing |
|---|---|---|
| Aurora | Driverless Class 8 trucks for regional and long-haul freight | More than $4B including public-market capital |
| Waabi | AI-first virtual driver for trucks and robotaxis | About $1.03B raised, plus additional conditional Uber funding |
| Stack AV | Level 4 Class 8 autonomous trucking system | More than $1B from SoftBank |
| PlusAI | Virtual driver for factory-built autonomous trucks | About $720M |
| Inceptio | Mass-produced Level 3 trucks with a future Level 4 roadmap | About $678M |
| Kodiak | Autonomous trucks for freight, industrial work and defense | About $540M including public-transaction financing |
| Gatik | Driverless regional and middle-mile freight | About $160M |
Is any autonomous truck startup clearly ahead today?
Aurora is ahead overall, with Gatik and Kodiak forming a credible but still smaller chasing group.
Aurora has crossed more of the important thresholds at the same time. Its Class 8 trucks move customer freight without a driver, operate during the day and at night, cover routes of up to roughly 1,000 miles and now use a second-generation hardware system. Aurora’s latest operating update put its cumulative driverless distance at nearly 440,000 miles by the end of June.
Gatik has built a more established regional delivery operation. Its trucks already serve large consumer and retail networks across several states, while disclosed contracts exceed $600 million. Kodiak has gone furthest in transferring driverless trucks into a customer’s own fleet: Atlas Energy Solutions owns and operates 28 Kodiak-powered vehicles in the Permian Basin.
Aurora leads long-haul highway autonomy, Gatik leads frequent regional delivery and Kodiak leads customer-owned industrial deployment. Waabi, PlusAI and Stack AV remain behind commercially because none has disclosed a comparable driverless freight service.
If you want more recent data on this point, please see our latest autonomous vehicle market report.
As this chart shows, and as featured in our autonomous vehicle market deck, search interest in autonomous vehicles has continued to rise
Which autonomous truck startups already haul freight with nobody driving?
Aurora, Gatik and Kodiak are the only leading startups with sustained commercial operations where the autonomous system drives without a safety driver.
Aurora started driverless Class 8 freight operations on the Dallas-Houston corridor before expanding to other Texas and Sun Belt routes. Its latest trucks now operate with nobody behind the wheel.
Gatik uses smaller box trucks and regional freight vehicles for store replenishment and movements between factories, warehouses and distribution centres. Its operations combine highways with urban streets and customer locations. Gatik reported more than 60,000 driverless commercial orders before its latest expansion with PepsiCo.
Kodiak’s driverless trucks work mainly in West Texas, hauling sand for Atlas Energy Solutions across highways, private roads, loading areas and rough industrial routes. Atlas employees oversee the vehicles, while Kodiak supplies the autonomous-driving system and support services.
Waabi, PlusAI and Stack AV have yet to disclose comparable driver-out commercial activity.
Who runs the biggest real driverless truck operation?
Aurora leads in public-road driverless distance, Gatik appears strongest in everyday regional deliveries, and Kodiak has disclosed the most paid driverless operating hours.
Aurora’s nearly 440,000 driverless miles provide the clearest measure of broad highway exposure. The distance includes several routes rather than one short loop, with operations now covering both daytime and nighttime conditions. Aurora has also validated a Fort Worth-Phoenix route of roughly 1,000 miles.
Gatik has released a smaller cumulative mileage figure, but mileage alone understates its type of work. A regional delivery truck may complete several customer stops while travelling only a fraction of the distance covered by a long-haul tractor. Gatik’s 60,000 completed driverless orders reveal commercial repetition that its mileage number misses.
Kodiak reported more than 23,500 cumulative paid driverless hours at the end of the first quarter. Those hours include low-speed industrial roads and time spent performing tasks that do not generate the mileage of an interstate journey. They still show that a paying customer is keeping the vehicles busy for long periods.
The uneven reporting prevents a perfect comparison. Aurora publishes miles, Gatik emphasizes orders and contracted business, while Kodiak highlights trucks and paid hours. The dividing line is nevertheless clear: the top three have continuous driverless work, whereas their closest competitors mainly have supervised tests and launch plans.
| Startup | Strongest disclosed driverless measure | What the number actually shows |
|---|---|---|
| Aurora | Nearly 440,000 driverless miles | Widest verified exposure to public highways and long routes |
| Gatik | More than 60,000 driverless commercial orders | Repeated delivery work inside real retail supply chains |
| Kodiak | More than 23,500 paid driverless hours | Intensive use by a customer-owned industrial fleet |
| Waabi | No commercial driverless figure disclosed | Advanced public-road testing without a proven driver-out service |
| PlusAI | No commercial driverless figure disclosed | Customer freight trials ahead of a planned 2027 launch |
| Stack AV | No comparable operating figure disclosed | Too little public evidence to judge commercial maturity |
This chart, included in our autonomous vehicle market deck, illustrates yearly VC funding for autonomous vehicle startups
Is Aurora really winning long-haul autonomous trucking?
Aurora has a clear lead in driverless long-haul trucking because no rival matches its highway distance, route length, customers and production preparation.
The Dallas-Houston launch proved that Aurora could carry commercial freight on a major interstate without a driver. It then added routes such as Fort Worth-El Paso and Fort Worth-Phoenix. The Phoenix lane stretches for around 1,000 miles, well beyond the distance one human driver could legally cover in a single shift.
Aurora also works with more than one truck manufacturer. Its technology is being developed for International and Volvo vehicles, and Volvo Autonomous Solutions has already built several Aurora-powered trucks. Some Volvo services still use safety drivers, but the manufacturing work shows that Aurora is no longer relying only on its own small fleet.
Kodiak is the closest long-haul challenger. Its software already drives without people in the Permian Basin, but normal interstate freight routes still carry safety operators. Until Kodiak removes them, Aurora remains about one commercial step ahead.
If you want more recent data on this point, please see our latest autonomous vehicle market report.
Is Gatik quietly winning regional autonomous delivery?
Gatik leads autonomous regional delivery, and the gap is wider than its relatively low funding would suggest.
The company chose predictable routes between fixed business locations. That narrower operating problem allowed Gatik to launch driverless deliveries earlier than startups trying to master long-haul trucking immediately.
Its work with PepsiCo now covers Texas, Arizona and Arkansas, moving products between plants, warehouses, stores and other facilities. PepsiCo has reported on-time delivery above 98% across the program.
The relationship began several years ago and expanded after PepsiCo tested the technology inside its own network. Gatik has also signed a five-year Canadian deployment involving 50 trucks for Loblaw and disclosed more than $600 million in contracted revenue.
Gatik still needs to prove that this success can carry into heavier Class 8 freight. For regional delivery, though, no startup has stronger commercial evidence.
This chart, included in our autonomous vehicle market deck, shows how Waymo is winning in autonomous vehicles
Has Kodiak found the smartest early market for autonomous trucks?
Kodiak may have chosen the best first market for proving that customers can own and operate autonomous trucks themselves.
Atlas Energy Solutions uses Kodiak-powered trucks to haul sand in the Permian Basin. The work is repetitive, physically demanding and difficult to staff. Vehicles can run for long periods, while every extra operating hour helps Atlas move more material through its logistics system.
Kodiak first delivered a small number of trucks, then expanded as Atlas gained experience. The customer-owned fleet reached ten vehicles, then twenty and eventually 28. Atlas employees handle the daily operation rather than relying on Kodiak to dispatch every truck.
The product has entered another company’s workflow, maintenance routines and operating team. That is a harder commercial test than a polished pilot. Kodiak’s next challenge is to reproduce the model with other customers and remove safety drivers from regular highway freight.
If you want more recent data on this point, please see our latest autonomous vehicle market report.
Which autonomous truck startup is growing fastest now?
Kodiak has recorded the fastest measurable growth from a small base, while Aurora has produced the largest increase in operational reach.
Kodiak’s customer-owned driverless fleet grew from ten trucks at the end of the third quarter to twenty at year-end and 28 one quarter later. That represents 180% growth across two reporting periods. Paid driverless hours rose from 5,200 to 23,500.
Revenue moved in the same direction, increasing from less than $1 million in the third quarter to $1.1 million in the fourth and $1.8 million in the first quarter.
Aurora’s acceleration is clearer in mileage and routes. It passed 100,000 driverless miles in the autumn, reached 250,000 in January and approached 440,000 by the end of June. It also expanded its validated driverless network to ten routes.
Gatik may be increasing its truck count just as quickly, but it does not publish regular fleet and revenue figures that allow the same calculation. Waabi’s recent growth has come mainly through funding and partnerships, while PlusAI still has no commercial trucks operating without a safety driver.
This chart, included in our autonomous vehicle market deck, illustrates yearly funding for autonomous vehicle startups
Which company can actually build hundreds of autonomous trucks?
Aurora has the clearest near-term route to a fleet of hundreds, while PlusAI has assembled the broadest network of truck-manufacturer partners for a later launch.
Aurora’s second-generation system is already operating on public roads. Roush is preparing scaled integration of the hardware into International trucks, and Aurora intends to finish the year with more than 200 driverless vehicles in operation. The target is ambitious compared with its current fleet, but the production work has moved beyond a slide deck.
Volvo plans to build hundreds of VNL Autonomous trucks in 2027 using the Aurora Driver. Continental is separately developing a mass-manufactured hardware system for Aurora, with production planned to begin after that. Together, these programs give Aurora several paths to industrial scale.
PlusAI works with International, Scania, MAN, IVECO, Hyundai and other manufacturing partners. A factory-integrated International truck is already moving customer freight on a 600-mile daily route in Texas, though a safety operator remains inside. PlusAI’s broad OEM coverage could become a major distribution advantage once commercial driverless operations begin.
Gatik has a tighter manufacturing setup with Isuzu and a servicing relationship with Ryder. That model suits regional box trucks and has already produced vehicles used in commercial work. Gatik has revealed less about how quickly it can manufacture the hundreds of vehicles attached to its announced customer plans.
Kodiak uses modular SensorPods that can be replaced quickly and installed on different vehicle types. Bosch is helping develop a more industrialized redundant platform. The architecture looks practical, although Kodiak has yet to publish an annual production target close to Aurora’s.
| Startup | Current path to production | What still needs proving |
|---|---|---|
| Aurora | Roush integration, International platform, Volvo pilot production and future Continental hardware | Reaching more than 200 operating trucks without reliability slipping |
| PlusAI | Factory integration across several global truck brands | Removing the safety driver and keeping the 2027 launch on schedule |
| Gatik | Isuzu production relationship and Ryder servicing | Delivering the hundreds of trucks connected to announced contracts |
| Kodiak | Modular SensorPods, Roush integration and Bosch hardware development | Moving from dozens of vehicles to repeatable high-volume production |
| Waabi | Purpose-built Volvo VNL Autonomous platform | Publishing a launch fleet, operating area and commercial timetable |
| Stack AV | Test fleet and substantial SoftBank backing | Revealing a concrete manufacturing and customer-deployment plan |
Which autonomous truck product has proved the most in real traffic?
Aurora has the most mature Level 4 product, while Inceptio has the most mature commercially deployed assisted-driving system.
Aurora operates without a driver across several public-highway routes. Its trucks encounter traffic, interchanges, construction, night driving and long journeys while carrying customer freight. Its newest hardware was designed for a million-mile service life and costs less than half as much as the previous generation, according to the company.
Gatik’s product faces more junctions, urban streets, customer entrances and repeated stops. Its completed orders show that the software can perform useful regional work day after day.
Kodiak has proved unusually harsh operating conditions, including dust, poor road surfaces, heavy loads and industrial traffic in West Texas.
Inceptio’s 500 million commercial kilometres come from mass-produced trucks inside a nationwide Chinese freight network. The scale is impressive, although its Level 3 system still relies on a driver.
Waabi recently moved its software from a Peterbilt truck to a Volvo platform without additional training or fine-tuning. That could become a major advantage, but the result still comes from supervised testing rather than an unsupervised commercial service.
This chart, included in our autonomous vehicle market deck, compares the main business model options for autonomous trucking companies
Which autonomous truck startup gives fleets the clearest financial payoff?
Gatik offers the clearest financial case already visible in ordinary logistics, while Aurora promises the largest eventual savings on long routes.
Gatik helps customers add reliable delivery capacity on repetitive routes that are hard to staff. PepsiCo’s reported on-time performance above 98% gives the economic discussion something concrete: the vehicles are consistently delivering products when stores and distribution centres expect them.
Its capital use also stands out. Gatik has raised roughly $160 million while securing contracts worth more than three times that amount. Contracted revenue does not equal cash collected, yet no rival has disclosed a similar commercial commitment relative to the money invested.
Aurora’s long-haul proposition could create greater savings per truck. The company says its latest platform is designed to bring the autonomous-driving cost toward $0.85 per mile, before fuel, vehicle ownership and other carrier expenses. A truck that can operate for more than 20 hours per day also spreads its fixed cost across many more productive miles.
Those savings have yet to be demonstrated across hundreds of vehicles. Aurora used $159 million of operating cash in the first quarter while generating only about $1 million in revenue. That spending has produced a much broader product than Gatik’s, but fleets still need proof that the promised per-mile economics survive high-volume operations.
Kodiak sits between them. Atlas keeps ordering more trucks, which strongly suggests that the deployment creates enough value to justify expansion. The economics currently depend heavily on a specialized industrial route where round-the-clock utilisation is unusually valuable.
Waabi has raised more than $1 billion without disclosing driverless trucking revenue. Its argument is that simulation and a more adaptable AI system will reduce future development and deployment costs. Investors have funded that possibility generously; customers have not yet validated it at scale.
If you want more recent data on this point, please see our latest autonomous vehicle market report.
Which autonomous truck startup has won the strongest customer demand?
Gatik has the strongest disclosed contract book and the deepest major-customer relationships, while Aurora has built the broadest customer network.
Gatik says its signed contracts represent more than $600 million in revenue. The figure covers multi-year commitments rather than money already recognized, but it comes from customers that have progressed beyond short demonstrations.
PepsiCo is the strongest individual reference in autonomous trucking right now. Its work with Gatik has moved from trials to driverless operations across three states and dozens of vehicles. Gatik’s planned 50-truck Canadian operation with Loblaw adds another large, long-running retail customer.
Aurora already hauls driverless freight for seven customers, including McLane. It also has relationships with Uber Freight, FedEx, Schneider, Werner, Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Detmar.
Its largest visible opportunity comes from Hirschbach, which plans to deploy 500 Aurora-powered trucks beginning in 2027. Aurora believes the program could generate hundreds of millions of dollars over several years, although the commitment remains non-binding.
Kodiak’s Atlas relationship goes deeper operationally than a normal supplier pilot. Atlas owns the vehicles, uses its own staff to run them and has repeatedly expanded the fleet. Kodiak reported $1.8 million in first-quarter revenue, still small in absolute terms but tied partly to customer-owned driverless vehicles.
Waabi and Stack AV disclose no comparable autonomous-trucking revenue. PlusAI has attracted commercial work around its HyperFoundry platform, but this should not be confused with recurring revenue from driverless trucks.
| Startup | Strongest customer and demand evidence | How convincing is it? |
|---|---|---|
| Gatik | Multi-state PepsiCo deployment, Loblaw expansion and more than $600M in contracted revenue | Deep, repeated and already tied to driverless deliveries |
| Aurora | Seven driverless customers and Hirschbach’s planned 500-truck fleet | Broadest customer base, though the largest commitment remains non-binding |
| Kodiak | Atlas owns and operates 28 driverless trucks | Strongest proof that a customer can absorb the product into daily operations |
| Waabi | Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Uber Freight | Excellent strategic access without disclosed driverless scale |
| PlusAI | International, TRATON brands, IVECO, Hyundai, Ryder and DSV | Broad industrial support ahead of commercial Level 4 operations |
| Stack AV | No major deployment customer publicly identified | Too little public information for a meaningful judgment |
This chart, featured in our autonomous vehicle market deck, shows the share of revenue generated by each customer segment in the autonomous vehicle market
What can the autonomous truck leaders do that rivals cannot easily copy?
Aurora has built the broadest competitive moat, while Gatik and Kodiak have created narrower advantages around customer operations.
Aurora controls more than a driving model. It owns long-range FirstLight lidar technology, has integrated its system into several truck platforms and has spent years building route-validation, remote-support and safety processes. A rival would need to reproduce the complete operating system around the truck, including terminals, hardware maintenance and customer integration.
Its public-road experience also creates a growing data advantage. Nearly 440,000 autonomous miles will not solve every rare event, but the journeys produce real examples of how trucks, sensors and support systems behave over long commercial shifts.
Gatik’s protection comes from embedding itself inside regional supply chains. Store schedules, loading procedures, route planning and delivery requirements differ by customer. Once the service performs reliably across those workflows, replacing Gatik becomes more disruptive than swapping one software licence for another.
Kodiak’s strongest technical idea is its modular SensorPod. The units can be accessed and replaced quickly, reducing the time a truck spends out of service. Its software is also being adapted for oilfields, logging and defense vehicles, giving Kodiak data that highway-only competitors may never collect.
Waabi could eventually have the most scalable software architecture. Its neural simulator and adaptable driving model are designed to reduce the amount of physical road testing required for every new truck and route. The recent transfer between Peterbilt and Volvo platforms supports that argument, though commercial driverless deployment remains the necessary final test.
PlusAI’s defensibility comes mainly from factory relationships. Deep integration with several large manufacturers could give it a global channel that startups running their own fleets will struggle to match. The danger is timing: distribution becomes less valuable if competitors establish large customer fleets first.
Which autonomous truck startup has the strongest momentum lately?
Aurora has the strongest overall momentum because its recent progress covers mileage, routes, hardware, production and customer demand at the same time.
The company has put its second-generation trucks into driverless service. Cumulative mileage rose from 250,000 in January to nearly 440,000 by the end of June, while customers committed all available commercial capacity through the third quarter.
Aurora is also shifting toward a much larger fleet. It aims to operate more than 200 driverless trucks by year-end, followed by hundreds of factory-built Volvo vehicles in 2027.
Gatik has the strongest customer momentum. Its expanded PepsiCo agreement grew from a multi-year operating relationship rather than a new pilot.
Kodiak has the cleanest sequence of measurable operating improvements. Trucks, paid hours and quarterly revenue have all increased across consecutive updates.
Waabi’s momentum is financial and technical, supported by a $750 million round and its cross-platform Volvo demonstration. PlusAI continues to improve SuperDrive and expand trials, but its 2027 commercial launch still leaves it behind the operating leaders.
This chart, included in our autonomous vehicle market deck, shows how robotaxi platform technology has evolved over time
Which autonomous truck startups are actually ahead?
Aurora is the autonomous-truck startup ahead overall today, followed by Gatik and Kodiak in a distinct top three.
Aurora wins because long-haul trucking places the toughest combination of demands on the product. The vehicle must drive at highway speed for many hours, handle changing routes and weather, operate without a safety driver and fit into a carrier’s network. Aurora has already done more of that work than any rival.
Its lead should not be exaggerated. The company remains deeply unprofitable, operates a small fleet and still needs to turn production targets into hundreds of dependable trucks. A poor manufacturing ramp or a serious safety failure could change the ranking quickly.
Gatik takes second place by choosing a narrower problem and commercializing it efficiently. Its regional trucks cover less distance, but they complete useful deliveries for large customers every day. The combination of driverless operations, strong on-time performance and more than $600 million in contracts makes Gatik the closest commercial challenger.
Kodiak ranks third because its customer-owned model has moved beyond the normal startup pilot. Twenty-eight Atlas trucks and rapidly rising paid operating hours prove that another company can run the vehicles in difficult conditions. A successful driverless long-haul launch would put Kodiak much closer to Aurora.
Waabi remains the most dangerous company outside the top three. Its AI may require less manual engineering and less road data when entering new vehicles or locations. The company has enough capital to test that thesis properly. Until it launches a driverless freight service, fourth place is the highest defensible position.
PlusAI follows because its manufacturing partnerships could support a huge international rollout. Its challenge is simple: Aurora, Gatik and Kodiak are collecting driverless experience while PlusAI prepares for next year.
Stack AV ranks sixth. The founders have deep autonomous-driving experience and SoftBank has given the company exceptional financial support. With no disclosed driverless service, major customer fleet or useful operating metrics, placing it higher would amount to ranking reputation and funding above evidence.
Aurora’s closest threat depends on what happens next. Gatik can challenge the overall lead by expanding into heavy long-haul trucks without losing its commercial efficiency. Kodiak can close the gap by taking its driver out of normal interstate freight and signing several Atlas-like customers. Waabi can move rapidly if its adaptable AI produces a large driverless launch with Volvo.
For now, Aurora’s overall position is closer to 100 against roughly 75 for Gatik and 65 for Kodiak. The gap is large enough to name a winner, but far too small to call the autonomous-trucking race finished.
| Rank | Startup | Why it ranks here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aurora | Strongest driverless long-haul evidence, longest routes, broad customer base and clearest near-term production plan |
| 2 | Gatik | Best regional freight operation, deepest major-customer deployments and strongest disclosed contract book |
| 3 | Kodiak | Most convincing customer-owned driverless fleet and fastest measurable operating growth |
| 4 | Waabi | Potentially more adaptable AI, excellent partners and abundant capital, without commercial driverless freight yet |
| 5 | PlusAI | Broadest OEM network and credible factory-integration strategy, with Level 4 launch still targeted for 2027 |
| 6 | Stack AV | Experienced founders and exceptional backing, but almost no public evidence of commercial readiness |
If you want more recent data on this point, please see our latest autonomous vehicle market report.
OUR METHODOLOGY
This analysis tests which autonomous-trucking startup is furthest along in turning Level 4 technology into a repeatable commercial freight business. We compare driverless operations, operating scale, route complexity, customer adoption, financial value, production readiness, product maturity, competitive advantages, growth and recent momentum.
We gave the greatest weight to observed activity: trucks operating without safety drivers, freight moved for paying customers, repeated deployments, customer-owned vehicles and hardware entering production. Partnerships, demonstrations, funding and future targets were included when they showed capacity or direction, but they did not carry the same weight as work already taking place.
The companies do not report progress through the same measures. Aurora emphasizes driverless miles, Gatik highlights deliveries and contracts, and Kodiak reports customer-owned trucks and paid operating hours. We did not force those figures into a false like-for-like calculation. Each one was used for the question it answers best: highway exposure, commercial repetition, customer utilization or operating scale.
We separated Level 4 driverless activity from assisted-driving mileage. This lets us recognize Inceptio’s large commercial footprint without treating Level 3 operations that still require a responsible driver as equivalent to freight services running with nobody behind the wheel.
No individual measure determined the final ranking. A company could lead regional delivery, customer-owned deployment or manufacturing partnerships without being ahead overall. The final order reflects the breadth, consistency and strength of the evidence across the full analysis, with extra weight on recent operating progress.
The scores are an editorial representation of the current distance between the leading companies, not a mechanical formula. They summarize the combined evidence and make the conclusion easier to interpret without pretending the underlying disclosures are perfectly comparable.
Key sources used for this analysis include Aurora’s second-generation driverless-truck launch, Aurora’s first-quarter 2026 operating update, Gatik’s account of its scaled driverless operations and contract book, PepsiCo’s announcement of its multi-state Gatik deployment, Kodiak’s first-quarter 2026 results, Kodiak’s 2025 results and fleet expansion, Waabi’s funding and technology announcements, PlusAI’s SEC filing on its freight trial and planned commercial launch, TRATON’s description of its factory-built truck partnership with PlusAI, and Inceptio’s commercialisation data.
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