Gatik Immediately Operates Autonomous Trucks On Kansas Streets, Protests Emerge From Labor Unions

JAKARTA - Autonomous delivery truck startup Gatik announced Thursday, May 19 that it will put its box trucks on the streets of Kansas after state officials granted operating licenses and partners and customers such as Walmart Inc also gave the green light.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly last Friday signed a bill allowing the use of self-driving vehicles in the state. Even cars without a human safety driver behind the wheel, are also allowed.

Gatik's head of policy, Richard Steiner, told Reuters in an interview that the company would "put their trucks on the road soon" in Kansas, but declined to comment on whether they would make deliveries for Walmart or other customers.

He said Gatik and Walmart had held numerous talks with Kansas legislators and law enforcement officials over the past year. The Teamsters union, court attorneys, and Kansas workers' groups themselves have opposed the bill, citing issues such as insurance and liability requirements.

Teamsters in a statement said the bill was rushed, and it allowed autonomous vehicles to operate "recklessly, risking the lives of our friends and neighbors, and overturning workforce needs."

Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment about this Kansas law, which establishes minimal operating requirements, such as insurance limits and the ability to move to the shoulder of the road in the event of a vehicle breakdown. According to the bill, self-driving companies must also test with human drivers for 12 months before becoming fully autonomous.

Walmart is already working with Gatik in Arkansas and Louisiana, where Gatik offers short-haul delivery by a box truck. The company last year removed safety drivers from delivery routes in Arkansas, and started running fully autonomous.

"It's very important to us as we look at the national scale that states that are silent on autonomous vehicles are being aligned with more progressive states," Steiner said.

The majority of US states have enacted autonomous driving laws by statute or executive order, but allow varying degrees of automation under different rules.