Drone Delivery In Could Be In Rockford’s Future

The sci-fi future we saw in The Jetsons could become more of a reality as a major delivery service considers using drones in the future. How does Rockford tie in?

Imagine this: you're craving your favorite food and you either have to drive to get it or have it delivered. Both options are never fast enough, but it could all change.

Imagine drone delivery - saving time and money. It might happen sooner than you think.

UPS recently tested drone delivery in Florida, according to WGN. The drones wouldn't simply take flight from the warehouse and deliver the package, though.

UPS used a new electric delivery truck with a drone launchpad atop it. Inside the truck, a driver loads a package into the drone’s cargo bin. Then a section of the truck’s roof slides backwards, so that the drone can take off.

 

After the drone lifts off, the human drives away to deliver a separate package. Then the drone and truck rendezvous at another location, where the drone is loaded with a fresh package. If implemented, that cycle could continue for a driver’s entire shift, allowing UPS to deliver packages more efficiently and save on fuel.

The drone was able to handle packages up to 10 pounds with a battery life of about 30 minutes. The drone recharged inside the UPS truck. Regardless how the logistics, how awesome would this would? Getting your next Amazon Prime order delivered by a drone would be worth a few extra bucks.

What is the timeline for this to become more of a possibility? WGN has an answer for that.

There are no guarantees UPS will ever deliver an actual package with a drone. John Dodero, UPS’ vice president of industrial engineering, told CNNTech it depends on whether automated drones could deliver safely. So far, that’s an open question.