Third Wave Automation

What it does

Third Wave Automation builds autonomous reach trucks for warehouses and the software to run them. Its approach, which it calls shared autonomy, lets each truck work in four modes: fully autonomous, remote assist (the truck asks a person to confirm or help, then carries on), remote operation (full teleoperation from an off-floor station) and manual driving ^[1][5]. ArmadaFMS, its fleet management system, is the screen where one operator supervises several trucks and handles exceptions ^[1][5]. Third Wave says one off-floor operator can oversee 10 or more forklifts ^[3].

The TWA Reach truck lifts up to 4,000 lb, reaches a 360 inch top beam, needs an aisle of about 10 ft 6 in for a right-angle turn, and travels at up to 3.0 m/s ^[4]. Third Wave lists four 3D lidars, five 3D cameras and four RGB cameras for obstacle detection, plus a 128-layer lidar for navigation ^[4]. A feature it calls Collision Shield adds a redundant protective layer during remote operation, the company says ^[3].

Who it is for

The target is dock-to-stock, putaway, replenishment and high-bay or very narrow aisle work in existing warehouses, without fixed infrastructure such as reflectors or wires ^[3][5]. The safety case is concrete: Third Wave pitches the trucks as a way to take people out of repetitive high-reach driving, where forklift struck-by incidents, racking strikes and loads handled at height are the main hazards, and it says its perception classifies people, forklifts and payloads in 360 degrees ^[1][3]. In June 2026 it announced a partnership with The Raymond Corporation, part of Toyota Material Handling North America, to put its software on select automated Raymond trucks, starting with a Swing-Reach model sold through Raymond dealers ^[8].

How it is deployed

Third Wave sells the system as a Robots-as-a-Service subscription ^[2]. It says sites reach first production moves in about two weeks and full deployment in about three months ^[3][5]. The trucks connect to the customer's warehouse management system; in the Armada case study this was Blue Yonder, integrated through Third Wave's API ^[6].

On standards, the specification sheet says the truck was built with ISO 3691-4:2023 (driverless industrial trucks) and ANSI/ITSDF B56.5-2019 (guided industrial vehicles) "as guiding principles" ^[4]. That wording is not a claim of certification or third-party conformity assessment, and we found no mention of ANSI/A3 R15.08. Buyers should ask for the declaration of conformity and the risk assessment.

The model also introduces hazards of its own: driverless trucks moving at height in mixed traffic with pedestrians and manual forklifts, a remote operator splitting attention across several trucks, and dependence on the network link to the remote station. The site footer shows a SOC 2 badge without stating report type or scope ^[2].

Notable public customers and coverage

Third Wave Automation Inc. was founded in 2018 and is based in Union City, California; it names its CEO and cofounder, Arshan Poursohi, and its leadership team ^[2]. The Robot Report covered its $40 million Series B in 2021, led by Norwest Venture Partners with Innovation Endeavors, Eclipse and Toyota Ventures, and a commercial agreement with Toyota Industries ^[9]. Modern Materials Handling reported a $27 million Series C in 2024 led by Woven Capital, Toyota's growth fund, bringing total funding to $97 million ^[10].

Its main published case study is Armada Supply Chain Solutions in Romeoville, Illinois. Third Wave says four Reach trucks moved 25,863 pallets over 3,849 production hours, ran 68% of the time in full autonomy, reached a 4:1 truck-to-operator ratio and recorded zero safety incidents ^[6]. Holman Logistics announced a deployment at its Spanaway, Washington warehouse in 2024; DC Velocity carried it as an unedited press release ^[11]. We found no independent test, regulator record or analyst evaluation.

Things to ask in an evaluation

• Do you hold an ISO 3691-4 or B56.5 conformity assessment, and from whom?
• What happens when the link to the remote station drops mid-lift or mid-travel?
• How many trucks per operator do comparable sites run, and how is operator workload limited?
• How are pedestrian zones, speed limits and manual-mode handover controlled on the floor?
• What do the trucks' cameras record, how long is it kept, and who can see it?
• Which incidents count toward "zero safety incidents", and over how many hours?

Our take

Strengths

• Four operating modes keep a person in the loop for edge cases, and the truck can still be driven manually ^[1][5].
• A named customer case study with figures, including autonomy share and operator ratio, rather than testimonials alone ^[6].
• Toyota-group backing and a Raymond distribution channel give a path to service and support ^[8][10].

Watch-outs

• ISO 3691-4 and B56.5 are cited as guiding principles, not certifications ^[4].
• Safety and accuracy figures are vendor-reported and vary by page: zero incidents on the homepage, zero major incidents on the About page, 100% accuracy claimed versus 99.94% in the case study ^[1][2][6].
• No published documentation on camera data, remote video retention or hosting; the privacy policy covers the website only ^[7].
• The 10:1 ratio is a design target; the Armada pilot reached 4:1 ^[3][6].

Best fit: Warehouses with repetitive high-reach putaway and replenishment that want to cut operator exposure to forklift traffic, can run a supervised pilot, and will audit the safety case and remote-operation design themselves.