Gatik named a TIME Best Invention of 2022 for World-First Fully Driverless Middle Mile Trucking Solution

Gatik has been named by TIME as a Best Invention of 2022 on its prestigious
annual list. The company was selected for its long-term commercial
partnership with Walmart (NYSE: WMT) in Bentonville, Arkansas where it moves
customer orders between a warehouse and a Neighborhood Market in its fleet
of fully driverless box trucks. The milestone represents the first time that
an autonomous trucking company has removed the safety driver from a middle
mile commercial delivery route anywhere in the world.

A few months after launching fully driverless deliveries with Walmart, Gatik
expanded its fully driverless solution with Canada’s leading food and
pharmacy retailer, Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L, “Loblaw”). Gatik is now
moving select online grocery orders, for Loblaw’s PC Express service, with a
fleet of multi-temperature autonomous box trucks.

To compile the list, TIME solicited nominations from TIME’s editors and
correspondents around the world, and through an online application process,
paying special attention to growing fields – such as the electric vehicle
industry, green energy, and the metaverse. TIME then evaluated each
contender on a number of key factors, including originality, efficacy,
ambition, and impact.

“We are humbled to have been named to the 2022 TIME Best Inventions list,”
said Gautam Narang, Gatik’s CEO and co-founder. “We are especially proud
that the selection honors the successful application of our solution in
real-world, commercial environments. It’s only when groundbreaking
technology becomes operationalized that its true impact can be felt by the
end consumer. Recognition on TIME’s prestigious list belongs to the entire
team who are working tirelessly to ensure the true advantages of autonomy
can be felt across our customer base today.”

Unlike other autonomous trucking efforts, Gatik’s fully driverless
deployments are not one-time demonstrations. Gatik’s trucks are safely
completing frequent, revenue-generating, daily runs in a range of conditions
on public roads, demonstrating the commercial and technical advantages of
fully driverless operations in the middle mile, B2B sector. Gatik serves
Fortune 500 customers in multiple states including Arkansas, Louisiana, and
Texas, as well as in Ontario, Canada.

Gatik’s rapid commercial progress comes as a result of the company’s
exclusive focus on fixed, repeatable delivery routes to maximize safety and
efficiency, using proprietary, commercial-grade autonomous technology that
is purpose built for the middle mile. By constraining the operating
environment, Gatik has been able to achieve the safe removal of the safety
driver much more quickly compared to other applications, such as passenger
transportation, long-haul trucking or B2C delivery.

In addition to being named as one of the TIME Best Inventions 2022, Gatik
has made the FreightTech 25 2022 list; been named to Forbes’ list of
America’s Best Startup Employers 2022 and Fast Company’s World Changing
Ideas 2022 list; included on Business Insider’s Rising Stars of the
Self-Driving Industry list; and named to Inc. Magazine’s Female Founders
List in 2022. Gatik is actively recruiting and hiring for multiple positions
to support the company’s intensive growth. View open positions here:
https://gatik.ai/careers/

See the full TIME Best Inventions 2022 list here:
https://time.com/best-inventions-2022

About Gatik

Gatik, the leader in autonomous middle mile logistics, delivers goods safely
and efficiently using its fleet of light and medium duty trucks. The company
focuses on short-haul, B2B logistics for Fortune 500 retailers such as
Loblaw, Walmart, KBX and Georgia-Pacific, and in 2021 became the first
company worldwide to operate fully driverless commercial deliveries on the
middle mile. Gatik’s Class 3-6 autonomous box trucks are commercially
deployed in multiple markets including Ontario, Texas, Arkansas and
Louisiana. Gatik partners with industry leaders including Ryder, Goodyear,
Isuzu and Cummins. Founded in 2017 by veterans of the autonomous technology
industry, the company has offices in Toronto, Ontario and Mountain View,
California. In 2022, Gatik was named to Forbes’ list of America’s Best
Startup Employers and by Fast Company as a World Changing Idea. In 2021,
Gatik was recognized on the Forbes AI 50 list and as a World Economic Forum
Technology Pioneer.