Much is pending in the evolution of how we move stuff from one place to another. Two of these changes have recently made headlines. But which will be the first to start making deliveries? Let’s see how they stack up:
Driverless Trucks
Are we there yet?
It seems like the road is the only place left untouched by fully automated robots. Self-guided robots are already:
What’s stopping us?
1. Liability
Who’s responsible when a driverless vehicle without any passengers performs a moving violation? How will insurance cover such incidents?
2. Cost
Google’s earliest sticker price rivals that of some sportscars.
Delivery Drones
Are we there yet?
Drones are already in commercial and personal use doing things like:
- Delivering textbooks (in Australia)
- Building things
- Generally doing whatever you want
Also, the FAA has been thinking about drones or unmanned aircraft systems/vehicles (UASs/UAVs) and how they’d be put to civilian use for a while now.
What’s stopping us?
1. Reliability
What if the parcel gets damaged if a delivery drone flies through a storm? Or gets shot down? Or worse?
2. Logistics
The delivery of stuff is almost universally managed under a hub-and-spoke infrastructure. Even if drones were available today, it would take a lot of time and effort to design and implement a system that’s optimized for a delivery drone’s performance.
So, who’s first?