Gatik, the dominant player in autonomous freight for regional logistics networks, today announced a significant expansion of its commercial partnership with Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada’s largest retailer. Marking a milestone for the autonomous trucking industry, the companies have signed a first-of-its-kind, multi-year growth agreement to deploy Gatik’s autonomous fleet across Loblaw’s distribution network in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
Under the initial phase of the expansion, twenty autonomous trucks equipped with Gatik’s next generation sensor suite will be deployed by the end of 2025, with a further thirty autonomous trucks to be deployed by the end of 2026, creating a scalable platform for future growth phases. In terms of fleet size, this growth agreement signifies the largest planned roll-out of autonomous trucks in North America, a move that transitions Gatik and Loblaw from initial deployment to commercial operations at scale, an industry-first in the autonomous vehicle sector. The expanded fleet will initially be deployed with safety drivers onboard, before transitioning to Freight-Only (driverless) operations across Loblaw’s regional distribution networks in the GTA, delivering goods with greater frequency and responsiveness to over 300 Loblaw stores.
Under the expanded partnership, Loblaw has made a strategic investment in Gatik, strengthening Loblaw’s commitment to scaling Gatik’s autonomous solution within its extensive supply chain and helping to rapidly accelerate fleet expansion and geographic growth within Loblaw’s priority markets.
“This is a transformational moment, not just for Gatik and Loblaw, but for the autonomous trucking sector globally,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder of Gatik. “It’s the first time a major retailer has transitioned from pilot to commercial scale with autonomous trucks, directly addressing Canada’s growing driver shortage, delivering the true benefits of autonomous logistics – reliability, safety and scalability – to millions of Canadians. Loblaw’s investment is a powerful endorsement of our market-leading AI Driver™, Gatik’s purpose-built technology that has logged extensive miles on public roads while maintaining an exemplary safety record and underscores our commitment to revolutionizing regional distribution through intelligent, autonomous solutions.”
“This expanded partnership with and investment in Gatik represents a significant step forward in our commitment to innovation and supply chain sustainability,” said Rob Wiebe, Chief Administrator of Loblaw Companies Limited. “Autonomous logistics will enable us to move more orders more frequently for our customers. We are excited to continue leading the way nationally in retail distribution with Gatik’s groundbreaking technology which has already been proven across our operations.”
This expansion leverages Gatik’s proprietary Gatik Driver™, a safe, scalable and interpretable AI driver purpose built for autonomous trucks, which Gatik says has been proven in real-world commercial operations. The new fleet will include cold-chain-ready vehicles optimized for the movement of time-sensitive grocery and household items.
In preparation for Gatik’s multi-year expansion with Loblaw, Gatik worked closely with the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario to inform the development of the Automated Commercial Motor Vehicle (ACMV) Pilot Program, a new provincial regulatory framework that recently launched on Aug. 1, 2025. The program enables the operation of Gatik’s medium-duty (class 6-7) autonomous trucks on all surface streets and highways in the province. With the ACMV Program now in effect, Gatik and Loblaw are well positioned to continue to scale autonomous driving operations.
By focusing on high-frequency transportation networks within strategically defined, commercially dense areas, Gatik has developed what they describe as a robust commercial solution that maximizes safety, scalability, and speed to market. Gatik’s regional network approach delivers value with Freight-Only (driverless) operations underway in markets such as Texas, Ontario, Arkansas and Arizona.
In 2021 Gatik launched the world’s first driverless commercial transportation service. Gatik partners with industry leaders including Isuzu Motors, NVIDIA, Cummins, Ryder, and Goodyear. Founded in 2017 by veterans of the autonomous technology industry, the company has offices in Mountain View, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Bentonville and Toronto.
Loblaw Companies Limited is Canada’s largest retailer, with more than 2,800 locations across the country. Loblaw’s provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, other health and beauty products, apparel, general merchandise, financial services, and wireless mobile products and services.
Disclosure: Richard Bishop is an Advisor to and/or an equity holder in the following companies mentioned in this article: Gatik.
