Atlas Energy to Deploy Self-Driving Trucks for Fracking Sand

Private Road Permian Basin Frac Sand Deliveries to be Kodiak’s First Commercial Routes

A Kodiak Robotics tractor sits parked on a road.

A Kodiak Robotics truck sits parked on a street. (American Trucking Associations)

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Atlas Energy Solutions plans to deploy self-driving trucks developed by Kodiak Robotics for delivery of fracking sand to Permian Basin oil and natural gas wells in Texas beginning in early 2025, the automated technology developer said.

The bulk carrier and logistics provider will initially use two Kodiak semis on private leased roads. The company has already completed an initial driverless delivery along a 21-mile route from an Atlas depot to a Permian Basin well site, the partners said July 23.

Founded in 2017, Austin, Texas-based Atlas currently operates a fleet of 120 trucks.

“The Permian Basin’s expansive private lease road network, which expands across the Delaware and Midland Basins, is an ideal environment in which to introduce autonomous trucking in North America,” said Atlas Chief Supply Chain Officer Chris Scholla “With average traffic speeds of under 20 mph on these large swaths of private roads, we can safely deliver a more reliable last-mile solution to our customers in the Permian Basin. This truly represents a step-change in oilfield logistics,” Scholla added.

Frac sand consists of small, uniform particles injected into rock formations alongside water to fracture rock in hydraulic drilling operations, according to the American Geosciences Institute. The sand props open the fractures it creates.

Advancements in fracking have helped the U.S. oil and gas industry access previously uneconomic shale rock plays. The resulting oil and gas boom made the U.S. the world’s largest oil producer and a dominant player in Atlantic Basin gas trade, while boosting demand in bulk, flatbed, tank and heavy specialized freight markets.

Atlas produces and supplies proppants, gritty materials such as frac sand mixed with fracking fluid. It operates 12 proppant production facilities across the Permian Basin with a combined annual production capacity of 28 million tons.

Kodiak will provide Atlas with a driver-as-a-service licensing agreement. Under this agreement, Atlas will own the trucks while Kodiak supplies its Kodiak Driver hardware and software stack. Mountain View, Calif.-based Kodiak will also provide operational support services, including remote monitoring from an operations center in Lancaster, Texas.

“Deploying driverless trucks with Atlas marks the beginning of a new era for autonomous vehicles,” Kodiak CEO Don Burnette said in a statement. “We look forward to scaling our trucking product not only in the Permian Basin, but also over the road.”

Burnette told Transport Topics via email on July 23 that deploying all driverless Atlas routes along private roads would allow Kodiak to gain “unique experience managing driverless operations.” He added, “We remain committed to driverless deliveries on public roads, and will share more details about that launch date at a later time.”

Kodiak’s biggest on-the-road customer so far is Artur Express, which plans to operate 100 fully autonomous sleeper trucks with Kodiak’s technology. The first of those trucks is set to hit the road in the second half of 2025.

Hazelwood, Mo.-based Artur Express ranks No. 89 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America. The hauler also ranks No. 28 among truckload carriers and No. 21 across refrigerated carriers.

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