Title: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for Freight and Logistics
Language: English
Type: Blog/Article
Nature: Website
Published: December 28, 2023
Region: Global
Country: Global / Non-Specific
Keywords: Disruption and PPPs **
Document Link(s):
Document Summary:
The official website of GIH introduces Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for Freight and Logistics.
Document Details:
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), sometimes referred to as drones, are aircrafts without an onboard pilot. UAVs operate with varying degrees of autonomy, such as remotely controlled by a human operator or autonomously by onboard computers. They operate using a combination of technologies, including computer vision from CCTV, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and object avoidance (LiDAR) technology. UAVs are powered by electricity that is stored in an onboard battery.
UAVs have been successfully used for military applications for decades and are now increasingly being adopted by the freight and logistics industry. Freight UAVs are currently being developed by an array of companies including start-ups like Natilus and Sabrewing, and major players like Amazon, FedEx, DHL, and UPS. Each prototype varies in shape and size, with Boeing’s cargo air vehicle weighing 338kg (747 lb) and carrying a 227kg (500 lb) payload, versus Wing’s 5kg (11 lb) drone that can carry 1.4kg (3 lb) payloads.
UAVs can perform several tasks across the freight sector, including warehouse operations, last-mile delivery and as unmanned air cargo planes. Cargo UAVs will be large enough to carry hundreds of pounds of goods across hundreds of kilometres, with the potential to replace cargo airplanes and even shipping vessels in some scenarios. Cargo UAVs could also shuttle goods between distribution centres in rural areas. They would be able to ship fewer items more frequently. Smaller UAVs can be used to deliver individual orders to customers’ doorsteps in suburban and urban areas, in place of road delivery trucks, and would be unimpeded by road congestion. Both examples would have a lower environmental impact compared to their traditional counterparts.
This use case focuses on the adoption of UAVs for last mile delivery services. Two types of UAVs are being tested to perform last mile delivery. These are multi-rotors and hybrid fixed-wing drones. The multi-rotor UAV is proving to be the most popular options due to its increased manoeuvrability. Currently they can carry payloads of up to 5kg and can travel up to 20km before needing to be charged. They can travel at speeds of up to 60km per hour at an altitude of 100m to 400m. They can deliver packages by landing at a location or they can do an “in-air delivery” (via a mechanized wire system so the drone can release a wire from height for delivery rather than needing to land).
In 2019, the first UAV delivery was made in the US state of Virginia by Google’s start-up Wing. Wing also launched its first air service in Australia in 2019 which let users place orders for food, coffee and pharmacy items through a phone application, and delivered those items to their homes by UAV within minutes. In October 2019, UPS became the first FAA-approved UAV airline in the US, following a successful trial of its service on a WakeMed hospital campus. The trial saw the UAVs transport medical samples and specimens around the campus. UPS plans to expand its UAV delivery service to US hospitals and expand outside of the healthcare sector.
UAVs are predicted to make up 80% of deliveries in the future, with NASA estimating that 2.6 million commercial UAVs will be operating in 2020. This rapid uptake of the technology is a result of the significant benefits it can offer freight operators, including the fast and reliable delivery of goods, lower costs of operation and environmentally friendly technology. The last mile of delivery is currently the least efficient part of the logistics supply chain. Today, 50% of the total cost to deliver a shipment is attributed to the last mile of delivery. This is due to the cost associated with driver salaries, delays due to congestion and issues in locating addresses, and the rigidity of a fixed delivery schedule that means if the delivery of one package is delayed, all subsequent deliveries will be impacted.
Updated: December 28, 2023