No Drivers? Self-Driving Delivery Trucks are Now in Arkansas

It sounds like something out of a futuristic science-fiction movie, a driverless delivery truck. Well, it's for real a company based out Palo-Alto, California is now operating two driverless vehicles for Walmart's home-based stores in Bentonville, Arkansas.

With the ongoing labor shortages, the self-driving trucks have no driver behind the wheel of these so-called box trucks or autonomous vehicles as the company Gatik calls them. The trucks are the first of their kind to use a commercial route to deliver goods and groceries from Walmart distribution centers to retail locations on a 7.1-mile route 7 days a week, 12 hours a day.

Gatik has been working on this new method of delivery for two years before they could safely remove the driver from the vehicle.

And in case you were wondering, what could possibly go wrong in an unmanned vehicle, the company has safety protocols in place such as the truck does have an employee that rides along in the passenger seat with a chase vehicle that follows and only delivers in good weather condition, according to TechCrunch. Most recently, self-driving trucks have expanded into Texas, Louisiana, California, and Canada.

So, how strange will it feel to see one of these trucks rolling down the highway with no driver behind the wheel? Will you feel safe around these vehicles? Watch the video below to see how safe these trucks are.

And just for the record, The companies Ford and Argo are getting ready to launch their own self-driving vehicles in a partnership with Lyft in Miami and Austin later this year. Sooner than later, we may start seeing more and more driverless vehicles on the road.

So, the next time you have a little road rage going on and you decide to flip off the driver, there might be no crazy driver. This is getting crazier but this is the future. I guess my only concern is this will put lots of people out of work but this seems to be the direction we're heading.

What's next Robocop?