PepsiCo has put 41 fully driverless trucks on the road, a milestone that quietly pushes the company ahead of Tesla in the race to deploy autonomous vehicles at scale. While Tesla has been promising a robotaxi fleet for years, the snack-and-beverage giant is already moving goods without a human behind the wheel.
The trucks are operating on public highways in the United States, according to the company. They run without any driver, no safety engineer in the cab, and no remote operator intervening in real time. That puts PepsiCo’s fleet ahead of most autonomous vehicle programs, which still rely on human backups or geofenced zones.
How PepsiCo got there
PepsiCo partnered with TuSimple, a self-driving truck company, to develop and deploy the technology. The trucks haul freight along routes in Arizona, Texas, and other states. The company says the program started with a handful of test runs and expanded as the technology proved reliable.
All 41 trucks are Class 8 tractor-trailers, the kind used for long-haul freight. They are equipped with cameras, radar, and lidar sensors that let them navigate highways, merge into traffic, and handle lane changes without human input. The trucks are monitored remotely, but no one touches the steering wheel during a trip.
Tesla’s robotaxi gap
Tesla has been talking about a robotaxi service since at least 2019. Elon Musk has said the company would have a million robotaxis on the road by 2020, then by 2022, then by 2024. None of those deadlines were met. As of early 2025, Tesla has a small fleet of test vehicles operating with safety drivers in limited areas, but no driverless service open to the public.
PepsiCo’s fleet, by contrast, is fully operational. The trucks are not carrying passengers — they deliver Frito-Lay snacks, Quaker Oats, and other products to distribution centers. But the technology is the same kind of autonomy that Tesla has been promising for years. The difference is that PepsiCo’s trucks are actually running, while Tesla’s robotaxis remain in development.
Why driverless trucks matter
Autonomous trucks address a different market than robotaxis, but the underlying technology overlaps. Both need to handle complex driving scenarios, detect obstacles, and make split-second decisions. PepsiCo’s trucks operate on highways, which are more predictable than city streets, but they still face weather changes, construction zones, and other real-world conditions.
The company says the trucks have logged ”tens of millions” of miles in testing and regular operations. That data helps improve the software and build regulatory trust. States like Texas and Arizona have been more open to driverless operations, which has allowed PepsiCo to expand faster than it could in stricter jurisdictions.
For Tesla, the gap is a reminder that talking about autonomy is not the same as deploying it. Musk has said Tesla will unveil a dedicated robotaxi vehicle later this year, but the company has not released details about its driverless truck program. PepsiCo, meanwhile, says it plans to add more driverless trucks to its fleet.
The next question is whether the 41 trucks can grow to hundreds, and whether other companies will follow PepsiCo’s lead. The answer may depend on how well the trucks handle the next few months of operations — and on whether Tesla finally turns its robotaxi promises into something real.
