DroneUp Archives - Maritime Shipping News

Amazon layoffs hit drone division

23 January 2023

Just as Amazon Prime Air drone delivery was beginning to gather momentum, the service reportedly was hit with another key setback.

Confidential sources claiming to be familiar with the matter told CNBC that Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) drone delivery unit lost a “significant number” of employees as part of the company’s plans to cut a total of 18,000 jobs.

The reported layoffs come less than one month after Amazon launched its first commercial drone delivery service in Lockeford, California, and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/amazon-layoffs-hit-drone-division

Breaking down Walmart’s 2022 in drone delivery

6 January 2023

A promise kept can be a rare thing in the world of business, and it’s important to take the word of CEOs and other executives with a grain of salt.

But in the case of Walmart and its drone delivery service, company leaders have followed through on just about every prediction they’ve made.

The world’s largest retailer on Thursday released an assortment of statistics about its drone delivery network in 2022, revealing that it completed over 6,000 deliveries of items from ice cream to rotisserie...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/breaking-down-walmarts-2022-in-drone-delivery

Walmart, DroneUp expand delivery service to Florida, Texas, Arizona

16 December 2022

This week marked a milestone for the drone delivery industry when Rwanda became the first country in the world to establish a nationwide drone delivery network in collaboration with San Francisco-based Zipline.

The drone firm’s partnership with the Rwandan government opened up its service to the country’s entire population, something that had never been done. But the news probably got some observers wondering: Where’s the U.S.’s countrywide drone delivery service?

Given the snail’s pace of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/walmart-droneup-expand-delivery-service-to-florida-texas-arizona

A2Z Drone Delivery rolls out new cargo drone and shipment system

8 August 2022

Los Angeles-based A2Z Drone Delivery on Monday introduced a new cargo drone and delivery system that it says will provide the largest payload of any tethered delivery system on the market.

Often, drones use tethers or winches to lower packages to the ground from altitude. Making deliveries from up high is an attractive proposition for many drone firms, as it makes it less likely that they will need to contend with regulations around noise and privacy. Companies that use a tethered system...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/a2z-drone-delivery-rolls-out-new-cargo-drone-and-shipment-system

Walmart wants to combine robot and drone delivery

5 July 2022

When you’re the world’s largest retailer, customers expect a premium delivery experience — without paying a premium. But being the biggest seller on the planet also comes with a few perks.

Walmart (NYSE: WMT) has a war chest of institutional funding at its disposal, and its massive scale allows it to spend that money on any number of speculative ventures without undertaking potentially disastrous risk. Already, the company has experimented with solutions like drone delivery, food delivery robots

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/walmart-wants-to-combine-robot-and-drone-delivery

Walmart and DroneUp expanding drone delivery to 6 states, 4 million people

24 May 2022

Worker watches drone fly over Walmart store

Millions of Americans will have access to drone delivery this year thanks to a major expansion of the service Walmart launched in partnership with DroneUp.

The two companies announced on Tuesday a drone delivery service expansion in six states and 34 sites, bringing aerial delivery of thousands of Walmart (NYSE: WMT) items to customers within 30 minutes. Walmart said that expansion will cover approximately 4 million Americans.

“After completing hundreds of deliveries within a matter of months...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/walmart-droneup-expanding-drone-delivery-to-six-us-states

Expanded drone delivery taxis toward takeoff with new FAA recommendations

17 March 2022

An FAA aviation rulemaking committee recommended new rules for flights beyond the pilot's visual line of sight

A new report by an FAA aviation rulemaking committee (ARC) has drone operators feeling sky-high.

Under current regulations, drone delivery services must operate within the visual line of sight of the operator, necessitating the use of a ground-based observer either on foot or in a vehicle. Consequently, drone delivery trips are shorter than most operators would like them to be because flights in the air are limited by terrain and infrastructure on the ground.

But according to last week’s ARC...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/expanded-drone-delivery-taxis-toward-takeoff-with-new-faa-recommendations

CEO eyes breakthrough year as DroneUp ramps up Walmart delivery pilot

20 January 2022

The past year represented successful growth of DroneUp’s delivery operations. The last-mile drone delivery company, which is making deliveries of medicines and other items around the world, made two acquisitions and launched a pilot program with the world’s largest retailer.

Now CEO Tom Walker is hoping 2022 results in even greater growth as the company ramps up its drone delivery pilot with Walmart and collects more data with each flight.

“There is some consistent data we are collecting [on each...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ceo-eyes-breakthrough-year-as-droneup-ramps-up-walmart-delivery-pilot

DroneUp acquires airspace traffic management company AirMap

7 December 2021

DroneUp completes acquisition of AirMap to bolster safe drone deliveries

Drone delivery in the United States has been a game of inches. Every so often the FAA will marginally loosen the restrictions holding back drone delivery, and drone companies will gain an inch of progress. Remote identification, operations over people, nighttime operations –– these are just a few of the small victories for drone delivery companies, but FAA regulations continue to keep the U.S. behind countries like Ireland, Canada, Uganda and Rwanda when it comes to drone delivery.

For the FAA,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/droneup-acquires-airspace-traffic-management-company-airmap

The 5 most fascinating drone deliveries of 2021 (so far)

30 July 2021

top 5 most interesting weird crazy drone deliveries of 2021

It has been a great year for drones. In the final week of 2020, the Federal Aviation Association finalized regulations that got the ball rolling for widespread commercial drone use, approving flights beyond the operator’s line of sight just a month later.

With drones now very much in the mainstream, they’ve awakened sleeping corporate giants like Amazon and Walmart, which have partnered with drone manufacturers around the world. Investors are in on the drone craze too, providing funding to a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-5-most-fascinating-drone-deliveries-of-2021-so-far

+ More