MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and DALLAS, Oct. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kodiak AI, Inc. ("Kodiak") (NASDAQ:KDK), a leading provider of Physical AI-powered autonomous driving technology, and Charger USA, a cross-border carrier serving the United States and Mexico, today announced a collaboration for autonomous freight delivery.

Through this collaboration, trucks equipped with the Kodiak Driver, Kodiak's autonomous driving system, are hauling refrigerated and dry freight for consumer packaged goods and food and beverage customers on the 435-mile lane between Charger’s terminals in Dallas and Laredo, Texas. Kodiak and Charger completed their first delivery on September 8, 2026.

Today, the companies are operating with a safety driver behind the wheel. The companies intend to transition the lane to driverless operations once Kodiak completes its safety case. A safety case is a structured, evidence-backed argument that the Kodiak Driver is acceptably safe to operate in a specific domain.

This collaboration marks Kodiak’s first route serving Laredo, the highest-volume commercial land port of entry in the United States. The Port of Laredo handled over $350 billion in international trade in 2025, amounting to nearly 40% of all United States trade with Mexico. Consumer packaged goods and food and beverage shipments move in steady, high-volume flows tied to retail replenishment schedules, making the predictable transit times and extended operating hours of autonomous trucks especially valuable.

"Autonomy lets us build a network that serves both our customers and our drivers," said Andy Khera, President, Charger USA. "Combining our in-house TMS, managed transportation, and the Kodiak Driver creates a nearly fully automated ecosystem that gives our customers long-term capacity continuity through changing labor markets and freight demand, while bringing our drivers home every night."

Charger operates across North America as an asset-based carrier, with temperature-controlled transport freight among its core service lines. The companies expect to expand the collaboration to additional lanes in Charger’s network over time as Charger integrates the Kodiak Driver into its own fleet.

"Charger came to us knowing what they wanted from autonomy and what they need to see before scaling it," said Don Burnette, Founder and CEO, Kodiak. "That clarity makes for a strong collaboration. The Dallas–Laredo lane extends the Kodiak Driver into a new corridor, and gives both companies the operating foundation we need to scale driverless service."

Kodiak commercializes its technology through a Driver-as-a-Service model, where the company deploys the Kodiak Driver on trucks owned and operated by its customers. Kodiak's driverless technology has been deployed in commercial service in the Permian Basin since December 2024, where customer-owned trucks operate with no one in the cab.

Kodiak plans to launch long-haul driverless service by the end of 2026. The company’s long-haul Autonomy Readiness Measure, which measures the percentage of claims and evidence in Kodiak’s safety case that are materially complete, reached 96% at the end of September 2026.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements including regarding Kodiak's or its management teams' expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. Forward-looking statements may be identiﬁed by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "forecast," "intend," "expect," "may," "plan," "potential," "project," "seek," "should," "will," "would" and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: expectations related to Kodiak's and Charger Logistics’s collaboration, including the expectation for future expansion as operating experience accumulates; expectations regarding the benefits and performance of Kodiak’s technology; Kodiak’s expectations with respect to opportunities for continued geographic and freight type expansion; Kodiak’s expectations with respect to closing its long-haul safety case and launching driverless operations on public highways in Texas by the end of 2026; and Kodiak's expectations with respect to its future performance and success. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identiﬁed in this press release, and on the current expectations of Kodiak's management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied upon by any investors as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a deﬁnitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difﬁcult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of Kodiak. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including changes in business, market, financial, political and legal conditions; the rapid evolution of autonomous vehicle technology and flaws or errors in Kodiak’s solutions or flaws in or misuse of autonomous vehicle technology in general; risks related to the rollout of Kodiak’s business and the timing of expected business milestones; the effects of competition on Kodiak’s business; supply shortages in the materials necessary for the production of the Kodiak Driver; risks related to working with third-party manufacturers for key components of the Kodiak Driver; risks related to the retrofitting of Kodiak’s vehicles by third parties; the termination or suspension of any of Kodiak’s contracts or the reduction in counterparty spending; delays in Kodiak’s operational roadmap with key partners and customers; and Kodiak’s ability to raise capital in the near term and long term. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact such forward-looking statements can be found in ﬁlings and potential ﬁlings by Kodiak with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including under the heading "Risk Factors." If any of these risks materialize or any assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that Kodiak does not presently know, or that Kodiak currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements.

In addition, forward-looking statements reﬂect Kodiak's expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date they are made. Kodiak anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause Kodiak's assessments to change. However, while Kodiak may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Kodiak speciﬁcally disclaims any obligation to do so, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Kodiak's assessments as of any date subsequent to the date they are made.

About Kodiak AI

Kodiak AI, Inc. (NASDAQ:KDK) is a leader in Physical AI, developing driverless technology that powers machines that move. The core of the company’s solution is the Kodiak Driver, a vehicle-agnostic autonomous driving system that combines advanced AI-powered software with modular hardware. Today, the Kodiak Driver operates in the long-haul trucking, industrial trucking, and defense sectors, and is already deployed in commercial operation with no one in the cab. Kodiak AI commercializes its technology through both a Driver-as-a-Service business model and strategic partnerships. In 2024, Kodiak achieved a historic milestone, becoming the first company to deploy driverless technology in customer-owned driverless semi-trucks. Commercial partners and customers include Atlas Energy Solutions, IKEA, Bridgestone, Werner Enterprises, C.R. England, General Dynamics Land Systems, and Roehl Transport.

For more information, visit kodiak.ai/investors. The Kodiak press kit, including videos and images, is available here.

About Charger Logistics

Charger Logistics USA is a privately held, asset-based transportation and logistics company operating across the United States and Mexico. Charger provides truckload, dedicated, temperature-controlled, and cross-border services, supported by a warehousing and cold storage network that enables end-to-end management of the full supply chain ecosystem. Charger operates on a proprietary transportation management system and a suite of in-house applications, delivering real-time visibility, execution, and data-driven decision-making across its network. Charger serves customers in food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, automotive, retail, and consumer products. To learn more, visit chargerlogistics.com.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cc9d4f4e-10d7-42f1-8539-f070ef1c661f