The days of manual package deliveries may soon be coming to an end.
The massive online store Amazon during the recent years have enhanced their delivering prowess with the help of drones. Flying, autonomous, and can adapt to changes while mid-air. Drones have come a long way, and with all these upgrades, it is a no brainer that they now get more business.
The New Age of Drones:
Drones can cut delivery time by over half the usual amount. That is because drones are never stuck in traffic jams or on-road accidents. This means more time on the go, and fewer moments of wasting time waiting for traffic to resolve. Another thing to consider is that it uses less manpower.
Drones can be controlled remotely – from a singular location. This means less people on the field, more help on the administrative side of things. It also means that work-related injuries when delivering would lessen dramatically. Incidents like car accidents, muggings, or just losing track in general.
With Amazon spearheading the drone delivery system, competitors must follow suit if they intend to keep up.
Iceland Drone Delivery:
In Iceland, a similar idea is starting to gain momentum. Their biggest online store, Aha.is started the option for drone delivery about a year ago. This however, was not a large-scale system. For their first big breakthrough (which took over a year to setup and fully operate) they can only offer limited drone deliveries. Limited, in the sense that only a small area (so far) can have it as an option. So far they can only offer deliveries around the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik. A decent concept; start at the capital and branch out if it is a success.
Today they are offering to expand the drone routes. This would include 13 additional areas for service, making drone delivery even more available to the populace. But like before, the 13 areas are still considered as testing phase. This is to kink out any bugs in the system. The elevation to a country-wide drone delivery system may take some more time yet.
With drone deliveries, privacy issues can be a massive obstacle to tackle. Sure, it can be great to have your item land on your doorstep. But that would mean a drone, equipped with a camera, to show up around your neighborhood. This may be a hard sell for those not interested in the technology. Another thing to consider is the reliability of it all. A study concluded last year that a majority of people who buy items online would still prefer the old ways. While some are open to the idea of drone delivery, most are still skeptical about the reliability of drones. Most would prefer the handling of expensive items to human hands.
