Walmart moving closer to driverless and drone options for last-mile delivery
November 29 - December 5, 2021
By The Daily Record Staff
If Walmart has its way, driverless trucks, cars and drones will soon play a significant role in the so-called middle and last-mile delivery of grocery and other consumer goods to customers nationwide.
Just ahead of Thanksgiving, the Bentonville retail conglomerate and DroneUp LLC on Monday (Nov. 22) the first multi-site commercial drone delivery operations. The three locations, which will be located at Walmart stores in Northwest Arkansas, will operate from 8 a.m.- 8 p.m., seven days per week, to deliver items to eligible Walmart customers by air in as little as 30 minutes.
“When we invested in DroneUp earlier this year, we envisioned a drone delivery operation that could be quickly executed and replicated across multiple stores,” said Tom Ward, senior vice president of last mile at Walmart U.S. “Opening our first hub within months of our initial concept showcases DroneUp’s ability to safely execute drone delivery operations with speed. We’re already hearing great customer feedback at our first site in Farmington, Arkansas, and look forward to opening additional locations.”
Ward said DroneUp’s delivery operation provides Walmart customers a safe, convenient, fast, and sustainable delivery option on thousands of items – even the most fragile – powered by a crew of skilled operators. Eligible customers in Farmington can begin placing orders today at droneupdelivery.com. The additional locations at Walmart Neighborhood Market #5837 in Rogers, AR and Walmart Supercenter #100 in Bentonville are planned to open in the coming months.
“Teaming up with Walmart to launch three delivery Hubs marks a significant leap forward in the broader use of UAS to provide last-mile consumer delivery services and supply chain efficiency options,” said DroneUp CEOTom Walker. “Walmart and DroneUp provide an unrivaled ability to pick, pack, and deliver via drones directly from the store to consumers offering efficiencies no other retailer can match. We are proud of our team’s ability to deliver the technology helping Walmart launch a new era of commercial drone operations.”
Earlier in June, Walmart first partnered with Virginia Beach, Va.-based drone startup to launch trial deliveries of at-home COVID-19 self-collection kits. DroneUp operates an on-demand drone delivery network that matches their database of more than 10,000 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified pilots to missions nationwide.
DroneUp was also the first operator to use the FAA 107.39 waiver, an operation that allows for delivery flights to be conducted over people and moving vehicles. DroneUp operates commercially throughout the U.S. and is an authorized government drone services provider for 11 U.S. states serving public sector organizations.
At the time, Walmart said it already has a significant part of the infrastructure in place – 4,700 stores stocked with more than 100,000 of the most purchased items, located within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population.
“The trial demonstrated we could offer customers delivery in minutes versus hours. Now, after safely completing hundreds of drone deliveries from Walmart stores, we’re making an investment in DroneUp to continue our work towards developing a scalable last mile delivery solution,” said John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S.
The drone delivery pilot comes exactly two weeks after Walmart and Silicon Valley startup Gatik announced they are operating daily without a safety driver behind the wheel on its delivery route for Walmart in Bentonville, moving customer orders between a Walmart dark store and a Neighborhood Market in its fleet of multi-temperature autonomous box trucks.
Gatik’s fully driverless operations, which began in August 2021, involve consistent, repeated delivery runs multiple times per day, seven days per week on public roads and unlock the full advantages of autonomous delivery for Walmart’s customers: increased speed and responsiveness when fulfilling e-commerce orders, increased asset utilization and enhanced safety for all road users.
“Through our work with Gatik, we’ve identified that autonomous box trucks offer an efficient, safe and sustainable solution for transporting goods on repeatable routes between our stores,” said Ward. “We’re thrilled to be working with Gatik to achieve this industry-first, driverless milestone in our home state of Arkansas and look forward to continuing to use this technology to serve Walmart customers with speed.”
“Arkansas and Gatik have shifted into the future with Gatik’s self-driving delivery truck,” said Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. “It is fitting that Arkansas, which is home to the greatest retail companies in the world, is the launching pad for this innovation in retail delivery.”
“This milestone signifies a revolutionary breakthrough for the autonomous trucking industry,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder, Gatik. “Our deployment in Bentonville is not a one-time demonstration. These are frequent, revenue-generating, daily runs that our trucks are completing safely in a range of conditions on public roads, demonstrating the commercial and technical advantages of fully driverless operations on the middle mile. We’re thrilled to enable Walmart’s customers to reap the benefits.”
In December 2020, Gatik and Walmart received the Arkansas State Highway Commission’s first ever approval to remove the safety driver from Gatik’s autonomous trucks, following the completion of 18 months’ successful operations. As part of its roadmap to operating fully driverless, Gatik undertook a comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategy, involving state and local leadership and emergency services, and will continue to hold ongoing informational workshops concerning its ground-breaking autonomous operations.
Since commencing commercial operations in 2019, Gatik has achieved a 100% safety record across multiple operational sites in North America, including Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Ontario. Gatik focuses exclusively on fixed, repeatable delivery routes to maximize safety, using proprietary, commercial-grade autonomous technology that is purpose built for B2B short-haul logistics. By constraining the operational design domain, Gatik said it has been able to achieve the safe removal of the safety driver much more quickly compared to other applications, such as passenger transportation or B2C delivery. The complex urban route in Bentonville involves safely navigating intersections, traffic lights and merging on dense urban roads.
As retailers turn increasingly to hub-and-spoke distribution models to meet consumer needs, the middle mile has emerged as a critical component of the supply chain. In the last decade, shorter, urban routes have become more prominent, with 65% of all routes under 500 miles and routes under 100 miles growing by 37% in the past decade.
Walmart’s partnership with Gatik follows its announcement in April that it was taking the next step in its work with autonomous vehicles by making an investment in Cruise, the San Francisco-based startup that operates an all-electric fleet of self-driving cars.
“The investment will aid our work toward developing a last mile delivery ecosystem that’s fast, low-cost and scalable,” said Furner.
According to Ward, the Arkansas retailer began working with Cruise a year ago in developing a delivery pilot in Scottsdale, Ariz. He said Cruise is the only self-driving car company to operate an entire fleet of all-electric vehicles powered with 100% renewable energy, which supports Walmart’s companywide goal of zero emissions by 2040.
“As delivery has become a staple in our customers’ lives, we’re focused on growing our last mile ecosystem in a way that’s beneficial for everyone – customers, business and the planet. With their all-electric fleet powered by 100% renewable energy, Cruise is a natural partner as we work to take collective action on climate change,” said Furner. “This investment is a marker for us – it shows our commitment to bringing the benefit of self-driving cars to our customers and business. We’re excited to join Cruise’s already impressive partner and investor ecosystem with the likes of GM, Honda and Microsoft as we work toward pioneering this emerging technology.”
In June, the Bentonville retail giant also said it was also exploring alternative ways to offer their customers low-cost, last-mile autonomous delivery options when it announced the company was investing in DroneUp, a nationwide drone service provider.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Three Walmart stores in Northwest Arkansas will soon deliver items to eligible Walmart customers by drone in as little as 30 minutes.
