Self-driving forklifts

1. 5

   Regulator-cleared or mass market

   A regulator has cleared it where approval applies: FDA clearance or approval for a medical robot, a permit to run with no one aboard for a self-driving vehicle, or an FAA approval for routine drone flights. Or: Widely sold: sales in the hundreds of thousands, or a product category you can buy in ordinary shops.

2. 4

   Paying customersThis robot

   Delivered to customers who pay for it, beyond a trial, or a paid service the public can use.

   Placed by: Fox Robotics says it has 120 of its trailer-unloading forklifts in use at 55 production sites (2026); Seegrid says its self-driving lift trucks and tow tractors have driven more than 20 million miles for customers (2026).

3. 3

   Pilot

   Working with a named customer in a real setting, as a trial.

4. 2

   Pre-orders

   Orders, reservations or deposits taken, with nothing delivered yet.

5. 1

   Demo only

   Shown in videos, staged events or a factory, with no units working for customers.

What we couldn't confirm. A Reuters report (July 2024) that Walmart planned to spend about $200 million on self-driving forklifts could not be opened. Third Wave Automation was not checked. No independent count of self-driving forklifts in use worldwide was found.