Is this going to replace UPS and FEDEX - Drone makes first legal doorstep delivery in milestone flight

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 08:58:43 -0400

RP members what do you think? Is this the new waive of delivery to American's front door?

Drone makes first legal doorstep delivery in milestone flight
http://fortune.com/2015/07/17/faa-drone-delivery-amazon/

Drone makes first legal doorstep delivery in milestone flight

The first federally approved drone delivery went off without a hitch. And no, Amazon had nothing to do with it.

Response by PO2 Mark Saffell made Jul 18 at 2015 9:01 AM

PO2 Mark Saffell — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 09:01:31 -0400

Im afraid in some cities people will use these as target pratice.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 18 at 2015 9:04 AM

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 09:04:50 -0400

I think it is amazing that it has taken this long, I have been reading about this for years now. At the end of the day I think FEDEX and UPS have the resources and capital to adapt and remain relevant.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 18 at 2015 9:38 AM

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 09:38:22 -0400

A second thought on this subject is surprise that the FAA didn't include Amazon in this first trial. With all the time, effort, and money they have put into using drones for delivery this is a strange move by the FAA to not include them. Perhaps it is a reaction, as your article mentioned, to the head-butting that has been taking place on this topic.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/17/delivery-by-drone-in-30-minutes-amazon-says-it-coming/
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/17/

Delivery by drone in 30 minutes? Amazon says it's coming

Borrowing a pizza delivery motto, online retail giant Amazon told Congress Wednesday it is developing the technology to use drones to deliver packages in 30 minutes or less, a broad expansion of unmanned flight that is raising concerns about safety, security and privacy.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 18 at 2015 9:39 AM

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 09:39:23 -0400

A little bit of humor for you PO2 Mark Saffell

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Jul 18 at 2015 9:50 AM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 09:50:13 -0400

Scale.

Each Carrier has a scale which they work exceedingly well at.

The USPS is great at "letter" sized mail because of the "junk mail" which subsidizes the cost of the regular mail.

Fedex is great for "Document Sized" Overnight/Priority mail.

UPS is great for "Medium Sized" boxed mail (think 5-40 lbs).

DHL is great for "Large Sized" slower priority mail.

The truck lines are great for Pallet, Less than Truck (LTL), and Truck Load delivery.

Drones will have to find a niche that fits a cost benefit "between" USPS/Fedex/UPS in regards to speed etc. As of right now, it's a novelty, and can be best equated with "Bike Couriers" like in major cities.

Response by COL Charles Williams made Jul 18 at 2015 10:21 AM

COL Charles Williams — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 10:21:52 -0400

COL Mikel J. Burroughs In Missouri, they will get shot down, outside of city limits...

Response by Maj Mike Sciales made Jul 18 at 2015 10:23 AM

Maj Mike Sciales — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 10:23:38 -0400

Yup. No more pizza drivers, pharmacies will deliver to shut ins as will grocery stores. A lot of jobs will go away, but new ones are created. We need 100,000 drone operators right now. This is the future.

Response by MSgt Aaron Brite made Jul 18 at 2015 10:24 AM

MSgt Aaron Brite — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 10:24:48 -0400

I don't think the truck based delivery model will change anytime soon. The volume is far to high for drones to take over and many packages would be impossible to deliver due to size and weight. Is a niche capability at best with the current technology. Sorry, the ex military drone pilots won't be stepping into positions at FedEx or UPS anytime soon.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Jul 18 at 2015 10:44 AM

SN Greg Wright — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 10:44:12 -0400

Replace them? No. Augment slightly, maybe. Amazon will likely be the only large-scale user of them for this purpose.

Response by SSgt Alex Robinson made Jul 18 at 2015 11:11 AM

SSgt Alex Robinson — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 11:11:46 -0400

Hmmm... I'm not sure about this. Interesting as far as expediency but I'm not sure about the safety aspects.

Response by LTC John Shaw made Jul 18 at 2015 11:35 AM

LTC John Shaw — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 11:35:54 -0400

COL Mikel J. Burroughs It will over time as we can improve battery technology which is the most persistent limitation.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jul 18 at 2015 12:52 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 12:52:43 -0400

Well COL Mikel J. Burroughs, it could be useful for delivering light-weight items that can withstand high and low temperature like depends and diapers, paper products such as books, magazines, toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, and tissues etc. :-) It could be useful with proper packaging for shipping software, DVDs, and music CDs.
Shipping non-controlled medicines could be very risky and extremely expensive because of temperature constraints. Expect the cartels and other organized crime to mimic the Drone markings so that they can ship controlled substances and other items in demand on the black market :-)
Drones would not be reliable for shipments of "fresh" food such as Harry & David, wine deliveries, frozen food, etc.
However with proper markings of friendly intent [confederate flag, Gadsden flag :-)] the freeze dried and canned varieties long-sought-after by survivalists and people stocking up for the "invasion" - those folks would be more likely to shoot at the delivery vehicle though :-)

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 18 at 2015 2:16 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 14:16:08 -0400

Perhaps they will over time. Over time they will saturate the economy with them and they will become less expensive and more accessible. I'm wondering what the FAA regulations are regarding the frequencies which they can fly in and what training handlers are or will be required to have. We're moving to a more technical age. It would be a good idea to direct personnel to moving in the direction of becoming more technically capable in this area head of the saturation time. ... Just some random thoughts on the matter.

Response by Sgt Kelli Mays made Jul 18 at 2015 7:52 PM

Sgt Kelli Mays — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 19:52:13 -0400

I hope not. Just doesn't seem like a very good idea...maybe one day in the distant future, but I do not believe people are ready for this yet.

Response by Sgt Kelli Mays made Jul 18 at 2015 7:56 PM

Sgt Kelli Mays — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 19:56:01 -0400

Perhaps in Rural areas...hard to get to areas...or places far away at first....but inner city and suburban areas....nope...don't think so. Not yet. Perhaps sometime in the future....100 years from now when most of the population is more technologically developed and inept.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 19 at 2015 8:54 AM

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 19 Jul 2015 08:54:01 -0400

While this may take awhile to catch on for these types of deliveries, I'm excited to see where else this concept branches off. For rural areas that see heavy snowfalls, perhaps we can expect important supplies delivered to residents when roadways are impassable. Similarly, in situations like hurricanes and other natural disasters, water and food can be sent in to those stranded on rooftops until the proper rescue attempts can be made. While I don't think that we really need our Amazon purchases within an hour, it will be great to see humanitarian and emergency applications that come from this.

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Jul 19 at 2015 9:49 AM

Cpl Jeff N. — Sun, 19 Jul 2015 09:49:23 -0400

There are a lot of issues with range, payload safety and security to work out. Small drones cannot carry enough and go far enough to be practical yet. There could also be privacy issues with cameras on the drones.

UPS, FedEx and the USPS (and other small parcel, last mile companies) deliver millions of packages a day. Can you imagine the number of drones in the air to even make a dent in this? They would become a nuisance hitting houses, power lines, personal property, falling out of the sky etc.