Like Amazon’s Prime Air, UPS is also Testing Unmanned Delivery Drones

Rafia Shaikh

UPS delivery drones technology:

Unmanned aircraft in the domestic airspace - and we thought Amazon is the only one to venture out there? Evidently not. United Parcel Service (UPS), the world's largest parcel service has also been experimenting on flying parcel carrying drones.

Drone delivery project is still good few years away due to FAA approvals and regulations, as we have previously discussed. Perhaps that is the reason why public isn't yet aware of any such private testing projects going on currently. In just a few days since a night before Cyber Monday, this is second big company's YES to an autonomous delivery project. Think about other industries and businesses, we might be having many more going through the private UAS testing process.

Amazon wishes to use drones to instantaneously deliver customer-ordered packages to clients right after 30 minutes of placing the order. Unlike Amazon, UPS intends to use drones technology for shipping of packages between its own warehouses. This will also ultimately help the company make delivery process faster.

While Amazon's delivering the packages right to the consumers may take longer considering privacy and citizens' security concerns, UPS delivery drones fleet may come earlier. Since UPS could use the delivery drones to move shipments from airports to warehouses in the remote areas, it could potentially speed the process with lesser security concerns.delivery drones

 "The commercial use of drones is an interesting technology and we’ll continue to evaluate it. UPS invests more in technology than any other company in the delivery business, and we’re always planning for the future." - UPS spokesperson

Ryan Calo, who was interviewed by The Verge regarding these delivery drones, commented, "I would be shocked if a company like UPS wasn’t considering this. If you want to compete in logistics and delivery, drones and unmanned robots have to be part of the conversation about where things are headed."

Apart from Amazon's Prime Air and UPS' delivery drones, FedEx founder Fred Smith is also hopeful about these technologies. The integration of unmanned aircraft as delivery drones in the packaging businesses will not only expedite the process but will also be a cost-effective alternative to road traffic. However, Federal Aviation Administration is yet to formulate regulations concerning privacy and security concerns to foolproof this system.

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