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Today, Drone Delivery Canada (TSXV: FLT) -- a company that I have written about before on the blog -- announced that it has entered into an exclusive 10-year agreement with Air Canada. Press release, here. Globe and Mail article, here. BNN Bloomberg article, here.
As part of the agreement, Air Canada Cargo will market, sell, and promote DDC's drone delivery services across the country using its sales and marketing platforms. It will be positioned as premium offering, and Air Canada has agreed not to engage any other drone delivery service during the term of the agreement.
This is a pretty big deal for DDC because it gives them distribution and legitimacy (they're a pre-revenue company). And for Air Canada, it is an opportunity to be a part of "Canada's first national drone cargo solution." The promise is a more cost-effective solution for servicing remote communities.
DDC plans to build out and operate up to 150,000 drone delivery routes across Canada as a result of this partnership. But, of course, it remains to be seen just how profitable these routes will be when they begin servicing their low-density communities.
Full disclosure: I am long $FLT because I think that what they are trying to build is very interesting and I think that better connectivity will be a positive thing for remote communities within Canada.
Photo by Ethan McArthur on Unsplash
Yesterday I ordered something from Amazon Prime. The guaranteed delivery time was today before 9pm, but within an hour of ordering the delivery estimate was updated and it ended up arriving on the same day about 5 hours after my order. I thought this was pretty amazing, particularly because the package was a bit time sensitive.
Delivering to individual residences is more expensive than delivering to more centralized businesses and stores. And with the rise of online shopping, UPS now delivers as many as 31 million packages every day. Because of this, every little detail counts.
Last year the company started installing Bluetooth receivers on the inside of its delivery trucks. If a driver incorrectly loads a package that isn’t on their route, it pushes out a loud beep. (This is one of the many tech and data-driven projects that UPS is working on to ensure it stays competitive.)
Previously there was no final check. If there was a rogue package on the truck, it meant the driver would have to stray from their route, coordinate a handoff, or delay the package for another day. These mishaps can really add up when you’re delivering 31 million packages in a single day.
With Amazon squeezing delivery times and with the rumors that it’s going to start its own delivery business (to compete directly with UPS and FedEx), one has to wonder about the impact that these volumes will have on our cities. Perhaps autonomous vehicles will really become the new roaming retail outlet – ready to deliver as soon as we click buy.
Today, Drone Delivery Canada (TSXV: FLT) -- a company that I have written about before on the blog -- announced that it has entered into an exclusive 10-year agreement with Air Canada. Press release, here. Globe and Mail article, here. BNN Bloomberg article, here.
As part of the agreement, Air Canada Cargo will market, sell, and promote DDC's drone delivery services across the country using its sales and marketing platforms. It will be positioned as premium offering, and Air Canada has agreed not to engage any other drone delivery service during the term of the agreement.
This is a pretty big deal for DDC because it gives them distribution and legitimacy (they're a pre-revenue company). And for Air Canada, it is an opportunity to be a part of "Canada's first national drone cargo solution." The promise is a more cost-effective solution for servicing remote communities.
DDC plans to build out and operate up to 150,000 drone delivery routes across Canada as a result of this partnership. But, of course, it remains to be seen just how profitable these routes will be when they begin servicing their low-density communities.
Full disclosure: I am long $FLT because I think that what they are trying to build is very interesting and I think that better connectivity will be a positive thing for remote communities within Canada.
Photo by Ethan McArthur on Unsplash
Yesterday I ordered something from Amazon Prime. The guaranteed delivery time was today before 9pm, but within an hour of ordering the delivery estimate was updated and it ended up arriving on the same day about 5 hours after my order. I thought this was pretty amazing, particularly because the package was a bit time sensitive.
Delivering to individual residences is more expensive than delivering to more centralized businesses and stores. And with the rise of online shopping, UPS now delivers as many as 31 million packages every day. Because of this, every little detail counts.
Last year the company started installing Bluetooth receivers on the inside of its delivery trucks. If a driver incorrectly loads a package that isn’t on their route, it pushes out a loud beep. (This is one of the many tech and data-driven projects that UPS is working on to ensure it stays competitive.)
Previously there was no final check. If there was a rogue package on the truck, it meant the driver would have to stray from their route, coordinate a handoff, or delay the package for another day. These mishaps can really add up when you’re delivering 31 million packages in a single day.
With Amazon squeezing delivery times and with the rumors that it’s going to start its own delivery business (to compete directly with UPS and FedEx), one has to wonder about the impact that these volumes will have on our cities. Perhaps autonomous vehicles will really become the new roaming retail outlet – ready to deliver as soon as we click buy.
Last week I had something delivered from Amazon almost every single day. They weren’t necessarily big things though. One day it was a new corn broom for the patio. Another day it was a small set of hooks that I wanted to hang some lights. And the list goes on.
This is what Amazon wants us to do. Order every little thing, instantly, as soon as you think about it. And it’s magically convenient.
Developers and architects are of course thinking about the implications of this shifting shopping habit on new residential developments. Usually it comes in the form of a large “Amazon room” and/or a parcel locker system.
I recently measured the package room in my building (geeky, I know). It’s about 10′ x 6′ and it sometimes isn’t enough for the volume of daily packages generated by ~360 units.
The other thing that happened last week is that my concierge said to me: “Brandon, we have become a full fledge post office with the amount of packages that come through here every day.” Every evening there’s a lineup of people waiting to collect their packages.
That immediately signaled to me that simply providing a larger room probably isn’t enough. This trend is only going to continue. How could we better design and optimize for this shift?
I am sure that there many companies working on this problem. Hopefully they will surface in the comments and in my inbox following this post.
Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash
Last week I had something delivered from Amazon almost every single day. They weren’t necessarily big things though. One day it was a new corn broom for the patio. Another day it was a small set of hooks that I wanted to hang some lights. And the list goes on.
This is what Amazon wants us to do. Order every little thing, instantly, as soon as you think about it. And it’s magically convenient.
Developers and architects are of course thinking about the implications of this shifting shopping habit on new residential developments. Usually it comes in the form of a large “Amazon room” and/or a parcel locker system.
I recently measured the package room in my building (geeky, I know). It’s about 10′ x 6′ and it sometimes isn’t enough for the volume of daily packages generated by ~360 units.
The other thing that happened last week is that my concierge said to me: “Brandon, we have become a full fledge post office with the amount of packages that come through here every day.” Every evening there’s a lineup of people waiting to collect their packages.
That immediately signaled to me that simply providing a larger room probably isn’t enough. This trend is only going to continue. How could we better design and optimize for this shift?
I am sure that there many companies working on this problem. Hopefully they will surface in the comments and in my inbox following this post.
Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash
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