UPS starts Distributing its Delivery Packages with Drones

The courier company UPS announced Tuesday that it has obtained the first full authorization to operate a drone fleet in the United States.

The company explained, in a statement that it will initially use this permission to expand its delivery service to hospitals and explore possibilities in other sectors.

“This is writing history, and we are not done yet,” UPS CEO David Abney said in the note, who said the company will soon announce new steps to expand its infrastructure, expand services for its clients in the medical sector and Start using drones for other purposes in the future.

The use of unmanned aircraft for package delivery is a bet of several industry giants, from UPS to technology such as Uber, Amazon or Google.

The certification granted to UPS by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the highest obtained by these companies and will allow the company to operate from now on without limits on the number of flights, transport heavier loads and fly at night. Check it on their UPSers.

UPS has so far focused on transporting products between hospitals and clinics in the state of North Carolina, a business that has already expanded immediately since it received the green light from regulators last Friday, he said in his statement.

The authorization allows flights to operate beyond the operator’s field of vision and, in the longer term, opens the door to the use of drones to deliver products in a much more extended way.

UPS, for example, has tested a package delivery system to homes in rural areas using drones launched from a vehicle, although for now, it has not given indications that it seeks to implement it in the short term.

UPS launches in Spain a cheaper service for exports outside the EU

The UPS logistics operator has extended its UPS Economy service in Europe. This export service for international shipments and is already available for countries such as Spain, Belgium, Italy, and Poland, as announced by the company. Specifically, UPS Economy offers companies “an economical and efficient shipping option to reach customers from countries outside the European Union beast (EU),” the parcel operator explained. In this sense, this type of service is specially designed for B2C-oriented businesses that seek to export to key e-commerce destinations outside the EU, but “more affordably,” the company added. 

“Our data shows that 68% of online shoppers buy internationally,” UPS said. Therefore, “this service is an affordable solution for companies to take their e-commerce services to new markets around the world and allow our smaller customers to compete as micro-multinationals,” the operator added.

The operator will update its website to reduce complexity in the management of international shipments

Also, UPS has announced an update of its website to reduce the complexity in the management of international shipments for SMEs in 116 countries. This update, which will take effect in phases throughout 2020, aims to simplify international shipments.

TRUST IN SMEs TO GROW IN 2020

On the other hand, UPS plans to implement initiatives for SMEs “in order to accelerate the network and expand our operations over the weekend, actions that will improve our competitiveness and generate growth.” In this sense, UPS has closed the year 2019 with an increase in revenues of 3.1% and a turnover of 66,965 million euros, due to the strong growth of the turnover in the United States. 

The operator will devote a large part of its investments in 2020 to initiatives to boost the SME business in order to increase its competitiveness and profits. Likewise, it will allocate around 6,057 million euros to the expansion of its facilities worldwide, as well as to the automation of processes. “We will continue to strengthen our network and create new solutions to support our initiatives for strategic growth,” said UPS CEO David Abney. 

UPS ACQUIRES 10,000 ELECTRIC VEHICLES FOR THE DISTRIBUTION

On the other hand, the US multinational has made a minor investment in Arrival, a commercial vehicle manufacturer that produces electric models for the last mile. Along with the investment in Arrival, UPS has also announced its commitment to acquire 10,000 electric vehicles that this company will specifically design for UPS.

It will also collaborate with Arrival in the development of the range of electric vehicles with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). This technology is designed to increase safety and operational efficiency, with great potential for automated movement in UPS warehouses. As indicated by the logistics operator, tests of the characteristics of the ADAS will begin at the end of 2020.

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