Gatik AI exec unpacks the regulations that could shape the AV industry

The next time you click “order,” your package just might make its way from the warehouse to your doorstep with the help of a driverless truck.

That’s the goal, anyway, for autonomous trucking company Gatik AI, which is focused on the “middle mile”—the routes that connect distribution centers, fulfillment centers, and retail stores. The California-based startup aims to capitalize on this lucrative slice of the market as it looks to go “freight-only” (read: no human safety operators in the cabin) and expand the number of trucks it has on the road from 65 today to roughly 300 by the end of next year.

Tech Brew recently caught up with Richard Steiner, Gatik’s VP of government relations and public affairs, to chat about the most pressing legislative and regulatory issues facing the autonomous trucking sector.

“My job is to ensure no surprises, as far as our work with the federal, state, and local authorities is concerned,” he said.

Gatik counts Walmart, Kroger, and Tyson Foods among its paying customers. Later this year, it aims to go freight-only in Texas.

But another major market—California—currently has Steiner’s attention, as a bill (AB 2286) that would essentially ban autonomous trucks is heading to the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom, who last year vetoed a similar bill.

The California Senate last month OK’d the bill that, according to Trucking Dive, would require human drivers to remain in autonomous trucks potentially through decade’s end. Meanwhile, the outlet reported, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles is in the process of coming up with regulations that would enable testing and deployment of large AVs on public roads.

The proposal has garnered opposition from the AV industry and support from labor unions like the Teamsters.

“This bill would step right into the middle of an as yet unfinished regulatory rulemaking process,” Steiner told us, “which is being led by incredibly experienced regulators at the state level, which we think is entirely appropriate.”

At the same time, Gatik is pressing ahead with the idea that short, fixed, predictable routes present the most compelling use case for autonomous vehicles, even as more complicated propositions, like robotaxis, recently faced some high-profile setbacks.

“This is no longer science fiction. It’s happening right now,” Steiner said. “So, lawmakers and regulators want to be involved in the process and work with us.”

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s the latest with Gatik?

On one end of the spectrum, you’ve got the long-haul guys—Aurora, Kodiak, Waabi, companies that are integrating technology into Class A big rigs, articulated vehicles designed to transport goods hundreds and eventually thousands of miles…[On the] other end of the spectrum is B to C, so delivering goods to a consumer’s doorstep.

We’re in the middle. Where we live and succeed is the middle mile: delivering goods on short-haul, business-to-business networks. So, delivering goods between micro-fulfillment centers, small distribution centers where consumers don’t have access to goods, and retail locations or other pickup points where they do. This segment of the supply chain has become super, super important over the last few years, even before Covid. Ecommerce is going through the roof. Gone are the days of people being OK with waiting three, four, five days for our goods…It’s only going to get more intensive and demanding, and in order to meet that need, you need more trucks, more trips, and more drivers going around like busy bees on that middle-mile supply-chain network. That’s where we come in.

Is a state-by-state approach the right way to regulate the industry, or would you like to see a more uniform national approach to regulating autonomous trucking?

Come the day where we could see a ubiquitous, universal, federal legislative landscape that enabled all use cases for autonomous vehicles—that would be fantastic. Of course it would. We’d all love to see that. Now, that being said, I think frankly that’s a long way away. So, if we were holding out for that day, we wouldn’t have a business.

We have very successfully deployed and scaled up our business over the last seven, going on eight years with the state-by-state policy approach. Number one, there are now 28 states in which Gatik can deploy freight-only today. So, that’s more than half the country; plenty of business to go around.

Number two, it wasn’t 28 when I started my role at Gatik. It’s been steadily increasing year over year, so there’s a huge groundswell of support for autonomous vehicles and autonomous trucking, specifically, across the country…There are certainly some nuances code by code, legislation by legislation, as far as each state is concerned. However, one of the chief ways in which we have been successful…is working through the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association…We have worked very successfully, collectively, over the last few years to work with lawmakers and all manner of key stakeholders to see enacted the model bill…This bill, it’s a standard, robust template which we think is safety-first, but allows us to ensure that the benefits of autonomy are delivered safely and broadly.

What does that model legislation include?

First and foremost, it includes being very clear about the fact that any autonomous vehicle operating must meet and abide by all federal and state laws, both vehicular and of the road…Number two, that a first responder interaction plan is in place…That is to say, a comprehensive plan, which is developed and put into place by any autonomous vehicle company operating in said state, and is shared with and reviewed by first-responder communities anywhere that we or other AV companies would be operating.

And, of course, ensuring that insurance requirements for any autonomous vehicles operating are met, as per legislative code. So, these are three key pillars that we see in the model bill…We go way above and beyond what any traditionally driven vehicle is required to do. That extends to enhanced vehicle inspection programs that we undertake before every single journey of the day…Autonomous trucking, rightly, is held to a higher standard. We understand why it is. It’s a new technology. Of course, there are questions about it still yet to be answered, so we’re very happy to be held under the microscope, very happy to be held to a higher standard, and very happy to meet those standards.

What pieces of legislation or proposed regulations are you particularly focused on right now?

Of particular concern to the autonomous trucking space, Gatik included, is AB 2286. It’s a replica of AB 316 from the last session, which Governor Newsom vetoed. We find ourselves here, less than a year on, and the same bill was introduced, word for word pretty much. It’s been moving fairly swiftly through the legislature, and in the same way as AB 316 would have done had it not been vetoed, it’s a poison pill for the autonomous trucking space. It would require a human operator on board [for] seven years—so, in essence, in perpetuity as far as we’re concerned, because we’re not going to wait around seven years to try and sign contracts with customers in California. They’re not going to wait for us to do it, either. We’ll go elsewhere…That bill is incredibly problematic, and we will certainly look forward to working with the powers that be to work toward a similar outcome that we experienced in 2019.

How is Gatik engaging in the legislative process in California to oppose this bill?

We are continuing to deliver the messages that we delivered last year as well, around the fact that should this bill come to pass in the state, California will be the only state with a bill like this—which would essentially ban autonomous trucking.

First in the country, ironically, given that California is home to every single autonomous trucking company and, frankly, pretty much every single autonomous vehicle company is headquartered in the state. Number two, that the benefits of autonomous trucking would not be realized in the state of California…There are a number of reasons why this bill doesn’t make sense.

Anything to add?

We’ve never done a delivery that wasn’t revenue-generating. We’re not just testing for testing’s sake. We’re in this to set up a real business…We’re in this to make the supply-chain function better. We’re in this to make road safety function better. And we’re also in this to develop a real business—because if we didn’t, the other things would never happen.