The Parcelocopter completes five mile trips within eight minutes
It may have been a while since DHL made headlines in the States, but it’s been focusing on shipping, shipping, and shipping. Now, it’s sent over a hundred packages with drones—beating mammoths like Amazon to the punch—and has no plans to stop any time soon. The international shipper stayed local with its trial runs, delivering 130 packages within the Bavarian town of Reitim Winkl, a small town mainly known for its skiing and forestry with added challenges of alpine geography and the potential for snow. Residents could drop off packages in “packstations,” essentially lockers, from which point on drones would control the entire shipping process.
Focusing the drones—which DHL adorably refers to as “parcelcopters”—within a small area allowed for quick speeds. Used from January through March of this year, the drones were able to complete five mile trips that usually take half an hour during the winter within eight minutes. DHL thanked the German government, saying that the creation of a special restricted flight zone was crucial to the success of the project. It’s something Amazon would surely kill to get out the U.S. government. Some say that Amazon’s famously aggressive stature has actually worsened its chance at a speedy approval, leading to severe pushback from unions and safety advocates. The company has threatened that it would move its drone program overseas, closer to the friendly environs seen by DHL. Regardless of where Amazon’s technology goes, though, it’ll never be able to say it was first.
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