Reply to post: Re: Payload?

See that over Heathrow? It's not an airliner – it's a Predator drone

Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward

Re: Payload?

"A lorry must wait until there are several deliveries needed for the same area, and the loading can only be started once the lorry is back at the depot. A drone could potentially deliver the goods within an hour or two (or even sooner) after receiving the order."

Since when did pizza deliveries (y'know, a person on a moped) wait for a lorry to be full?

Going slightly more upmarket than takeaway hot food, are readers familiar with the allegedly superfast delivery services like eBay-owned Shutl [1], which outfits like Maplin (and then Argos) originally marketed as offering deliveries within a few minutes? Shutl must be smart, they even mention DevoPS on their bog.

Maplin used to offer Shitl deliveries, now they don't (well Shutl's website says they do, Maplin's says they don't). Argos used to offer superfast delivery via Shutl, but if they still do, it's well disguised. Argos do still offer fast same-day delivery to many parts of the country, with or without drones, with or without Shutl. As do many pharmacy chains, and car parts stockists for the trade, and [...].

eBay's own website now talks about Shutl deliveries in days not minutes, and mentions Hermes (which many experienced online customers will equate to delivery one day, or maybe never - like Yodel, but even worse).

Still not seeing a worthwhile legitimate business case for drone deliveries, but it's great in terms of free advertising for the big name companies, at least until reality strikes and Theresa May's mates want to put a stop to the whole thing e.g. drones being used for unregulated deliveries of pharmaceuticals etc to Her Majesty's Holiday Camps:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-36302136/footage-shows-drone-delivering-drugs-to-prisoners

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutl

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