Kodiak Robotics has reached another milestone in scaling autonomous freight operations, announcing that Roush Industries has delivered the first production-line truck equipped with the Kodiak Driver. The vehicle was delivered in August to Atlas Energy Solutions, which is deploying driverless operations in the Permian Basin.
The truck was built at Roush’s Livonia, Michigan, facility, where Kodiak’s modular, vehicle-agnostic autonomous system was integrated into the vehicle platform. This includes the company’s SensorPods, AI compute, Actuation Control Engine (ACE) safety computer, and redundant actuation systems.
“Taking delivery of the first Roush-upfitted truck is another example of how the future of freight is arriving,” said Don Burnette, Founder and CEO of Kodiak. “The speed and quality of Roush’s work confirm why we are confident they’re the right partner to help us transform the freight and logistics market at scale.”
Atlas began receiving Kodiak Driver-equipped trucks in December 2024 and has since taken delivery of eight vehicles, part of an initial order for 100 units. These trucks are already operating driverlessly in the Permian Basin.
Kodiak and Roush announced their manufacturing partnership in June 2025. Since then, Roush has established a dedicated production line to support scaling production into the hundreds of trucks by the end of 2026.
“Delivering the first Roush-upfit truck shows how our contract manufacturing process can meet Kodiak’s high standards while supporting its ability to scale,” said Brad Rzetelny, VP of Contract Manufacturing at Roush. “We’re playing an important role in putting this technology where it belongs: into commercial service.”
The milestone comes as Kodiak prepares for its proposed business combination with Ares Acquisition Corporation II. A shareholder vote is scheduled for September 23, 2025, with plans to list on Nasdaq under the symbols “KDK” and “KDKRW” beginning September 25. The move is expected to accelerate Kodiak’s commercialization strategy and position the company to capture a share of the global trucking market, estimated at more than $4 trillion.
