From Our Print Edition

Walmart is using two driverless multi-temp box trucks to make daily deliveries from a dark store to a Neighborhood Market in Bentonville, Ark.

The move by Walmart is a world first, according to the retailer and its technology partner, Gatik (gatik.ai), Palo Alto, Calif. The trucks follow a seven-mile loop.

The trucks’ deliveries, along a seven-mile route, ‘are frequent, revenue-generating daily runs.’

The companies began working together last December with a safety driver onboard. The trucks have been running without a driver since August, and there have been no accidents reported. “Autonomous box trucks offer an efficient, safe and sustainable solution for transporting goods on repeatable routes between our stores,” said Tom Ward, senior vp of last mile at Walmart U.S.

Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder of Gatik, says the trucks’ deliveries “are frequent, revenue-generating, daily runs.”

Walmart and Gatik say the current test has delivered “increased speed and responsiveness when fulfilling e-commerce orders, increased asset utilization and enhanced safety for all road users.”

Walmart and Ford have been working together to launch an autonomous vehicle delivery service in Austin, Texas, Miami and Washington, D.C. The program was the first on a multi-city basis for the retailer. Ford is supplying Escape hybrid vehicles controlled with Argo AI self-driving technology in that pilot. Ford is a financial backer of Argo.

Commenters on Retailwire.com hailed the ongoing test as a significant advancement, addressing costs of delivery and the shortage of drivers. But they expect it’ll be awhile before this goes mainstream, considering potential liability issues, state-by-state regulations and the lack of a uniform national policy.