On Monday, Ups, the world’s largest delivery company began testing Drone Package Delivery for delivering residential packages. The testing was conducted in a place near to Tampa, Florida, from one of their iconic brown trucks.
According to the company’s senior vice president, UPS is planning to use drone deliveries in the near future, especially for rural areas. The delivery of packages in rural areas by trucks is considered very expensive. Once implemented fully, delivering packages by drones will help the company save $50 million a year.
The drone successfully delivered a package during test
According to reports, the UPS drone package delivery test was a successful event. UPS used a newly created electric truck that has a drone launch pad on the top. The drone delivered the package to the correct destination and then returned to the truck at a different location. Using the drones is also considered to be environmentally friendly, even though the exact numbers were not shared by the company. It certainly will save on gas for the trucks that would normally be traveling a lot of miles in the rural areas.
The devices for the drone package delivery are made by an Ohio based group
The drones that were tested by UPS were designed by the Workhorse Group based in Ohio.
The GPS controlled devices weigh around 9.5 pounds. According to Workhorse, the device is powered by 18650 lithium battery and travels at a top speed of 45 mph and has a 30 minute flight time. Each drone device can carry packages around 10 pounds in weight.
According to Workhorse Chief Steve Burns, the device is not going to be used for carrying a 50 pound television set, but for carrying smaller packages they will do a good job.
The drone package delivery system uses GPS guidance to know where to go. This guidance system connects with a local database that provides vital information like the weather, topographics and wind conditions. This system also receives signals from the electric van that is used to launch the drones, so that they can land safely.
VP Mark Wallace addresses concerns
When asked about the drones replacing UPS truck drivers, the Vice President of UPS, Mark Wallace, said that even though the company is planning to start a drone package delivery system to reduce costs in the future, they have no plans to replace the 66,000 delivery drivers, as they are the trusted faces of UPS.
