Independent safety review advances Gatik toward driverless truck deployment

Gatik, a leader in autonomous middle-mile logistics, said Monday it has reached a milestone toward its development of driverless trucks at scale. The company announced the successful review of two major pillars of its safety assessment framework, with independent assessment from TÜV SÜD, a globally recognized testing and certification organization.

This is a crucial step for Gatik as it prepares to launch large-scale Freight-Only driverless commercial operations in 2025. Notably, Gatik’s independently reviewed approach is a departure from other autonomous companies that use self-certification standards, as each company makes the case that its driverless option is roadworthy and ready for commercial operations. The most important part of these assessments begins with safety.

“We strongly believe that the future of autonomous vehicles will be defined by those who prioritize safety above all else,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder of Gatik in a news release. “This independently-review of our Safety Case and Functional Safety methodology represents a radical departure from the self-certified safety audits that have become the industry norm.”

The safety assessment framework developed by Gatik contains over 700 identified safety portfolios, including key pillars of AV safety like organizational safety culture, engineering quality, cybersecurity, vehicle safety and safety case conformity to industry standards. 

TÜV SÜD’s assessment involved an end-to-end review of Gatik’s functional safety portfolios, covering elements such as operational design domain, item definition, testing, and hazard analysis and risk assessment.