500 Drone Deliveries a Day – Drone Delivery Services Booming in China

S.F. Express Planning to Perform 1,000 Courier-to-Courier Drone Deliveries Per Day

Unmanned Cargo Delivery Concept – Chronicle 10

原来如此 顺丰无人机物流细节首次公布 “Shun Feng non-pilot plane logistic details is published for the first time” (February 16, 2015)

(Editor’s Note: Original article posted in Chinese. Google Translate as well as related articles from the DailyMail.com and DiscoverMagazine.com were used to compile this unmanned cargo chronicle.)

What Article Chronicles: 

S.F. Express, in partnership with XAircraft, began experimenting with drone deliveries in Dongguan, China back in 2013. Today, the Shenzhen-based company performs approximately 500 drone deliveries a day and has plans to expand its area of services to seven regions while at the same time doubling the number of daily packages it delivers. What sets these drone deliveries apart is that they are made between couriers and not directly to end-consumers as envisioned by Amazon, Swiss Post or Matternet.

Packages are still delivered by couriers to the customer’s front door. What the S.F. Express low-altitude logistics concept does is replace the trucks that are typically used in the intermediate shipments. Goods are first loaded onto the drone by a courier at the point of origin (e.g. distribution warehouse) and the package is scanned to confirm the delivery address. The UAV then automatically flies to its destination. A message is sent alerting the receiving courier to clear the designated landing area. When the drone arrives, the parcel is scanned once again and unloaded from the drone. The UAV then returns to its base automatically.

In China, commercial drone use is legal, nevertheless the work is carried out in close cooperation with the Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority as S.F. Express plans to expand its logistics network coverage. Additional features currently being developed include a dispatch management center as well as a new generation drone that could carry loads of up to 10 kg (22 lb) and have maximum range of 20 km (12.4 miles).

Official UAV / Drone Name:

Not specified.

Basic UAV/ Drone Description: 

Autonomous, 1.95 kg (4.3 lb), all-weather Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with 14″ propeller blades.

Payload:

Up to 1 kg (2.2 lb).

Range:

Approximately 16 min when carrying a full payload.

Speed:

Not specified.

Companies Involved:

• S.F. Express
• XAircraft

 

What are your thoughts on the use of unmanned postal delivery drones in China? Comment below!