Thoughts on drones...Really?

[Turdferguson]

So, I saw a picture of the Fed-Ex drone...It sure looks complicated-lots of moving parts.

And then I got to thinking about how UPS really is: plain, ugly brown, bare minimums

on everything. At our hub, we can't keep a toilet running. Spend 10 minutes around any

UPS operation and you will know how filthy and worn out anything is. OK.

Most folks don't understand that drones will be heavily regulated by the FAA. No duct

tape and bailing wire for aircraft. I have no doubt drones and robotics are the future.

And without being able to go a whole day without some sort of incident in delivery

operations. And drones?.....propellers, 3 dimensional flight...really?

I just don't see how our(anyone else's) delivery model will work without a real size

(at least) helicopter size drone with an aircraft carrier size mother ship. I am a pilot,

plane owner, Certified Aircraft Mechanic and very familiar with the FAA regs and how

flying works.

Think about what it takes to deliver a pizza-employee, car all that. Weight is the bane

of any aircraft. What about the customer that wants to add 2 or three gallons of soda to

that pizza order. Can you imagine a car size drone appearing at your front door? Don't

think so? You have no idea about aerodynamics, physics and payloads.

I'm sure there are things that are going on with drone technology that I am not privy to.

But really?

UPS is able to fly their planes without wrecking them into stuff, why do you think they won't be able to operate the drones safely?
The done operation is set up to be completely autonomous from the package operations so they won't run it the same way as package

 

[Johney]

sat ground had almost nothing to do with critical care volume

it was like 3-4 big name shippers, like best buy and amazon, that said they’d drop us if we didn’t

They're laughing now aren't they? Seeing as if they dropped us they'd be depending on just the USPS.

 

[FromOffTheStreets]

sat ground had almost nothing to do with critical care volume

it was like 3-4 big name shippers, like best buy and amazon, that said they’d drop us if we didn’t

We still don't run Saturday ground in our center. However, just last year we were running 3 or 4 people for Saturday air. This year we're running 8-10 on Saturday's & it's all Amazon "NDA's".
You wonder how much $ they're losing paying 6 or 7 ground drivers time & a half for a 6th day punch to deliver $5 Amazon nda's.

 

[Driving4fun]

Everyone seems to ignore the support system that drone delivery requires. Operators, maintenance, programmers, storage, etc., not to mention the original equipment investment.
You can’t hand an envelope to a drone for autonomous delivery like you can a courier.
Tremendous stumbling blocks to viability.

Agreed. Think of the logistics. Losing our jobs to drones would require drones to take on all the volume that ups does in a day. Not tenable without major infrastructure changes nationwide that would take years once someone figured out what those changes need to be. Second, imagine the skies with thousands of drones buzzing around making deliveries. Safety would be a nightmare and the second someone got hurt or worse, the entire idea would be set back years. Current drivers have nothing to worry about!

 

[Driving4fun]

drones are for NDA and critical care smalls basically, our highest revenue volume

And only a portion of even those. That will be true for the entire career of a driver starting today.

 

[MyTripisCut]

sat ground had almost nothing to do with critical care volume

it was like 3-4 big name shippers, like best buy and amazon, that said they’d drop us if we didn’t

This, is a lie.

 

[FromOffTheStreets]

Drones would be helpful in rural areas & that's about it.

Unusable for businesses & bulk stops.

Not great for in town resis either where a driver can knock out 20-30 an hour. A drone can't compete with that flying back & forth to a hub.

 

[clean hairy]

Make the drones join the union.
We don't want scab drones doing our work, do we?

 

[quad decade guy]

UPS is able to fly their planes without wrecking them into stuff, why do you think they won't be able to operate the drones safely?
The done operation is set up to be completely autonomous from the package operations so they won't run it the same way as package

Two different universes. With all respect, the only similarity is aircraft(not really). Kinda like a kite

and an airplane...they both fly. Have you ever looked at a drone? Propellers. And completely

autonomous? Ok. Where are they going to get pkgs? And safety? What happens when a 4 yo. reaches

out to that drone or a dog takes a bite of those propellers. See? Or how about that drone catching fire

and burning down an apt. complex. Every drone will have to have a pilot. They're not going cross

country. Pure fantasy. Think critically about all this and compare it to how we run our delivery

business. Lastly, look at how huge any airport is. Lot's of acreage, space. In the same way, a drone will

have to have a mothership or facility and pilot. And the pkgs have to come from somewhere. Hell,

we can't even make an electric vehicle that can barely do local deliveries or provide cng facilities.

Really?

 

[burrheadd]

Two different universes. With all respect, the only similarity is aircraft(not really). Kinda like a kite

and an airplane...they both fly. Have you ever looked at a drone? Propellers. And completely

autonomous? Ok. Where are they going to get pkgs? And safety? What happens when a 4 yo. reaches

out to that drone or a dog takes a bite of those propellers. See? Or how about that drone catching fire

and burning down an apt. complex. Every drone will have to have a pilot. They're not going cross

country. Pure fantasy. Think critically about all this and compare it to how we run our delivery

business. Lastly, look at how huge any airport is. Lot's of acreage, space. In the same way, a drone will

have to have a mothership or facility and pilot. And the pkgs have to come from somewhere. Hell,

we can't even make an electric vehicle that can barely do local deliveries or provide cng facilities.

Really?

Did you just make all this up

 

[Boywondr]

So basically our Saturday operation, right? That's what we were pitched at the beginning why we were doing Saturday ground. Now it's just like any other day in terms of what I'm delivering. Poop boxes here, Comcast crap there. It's been almost a month since I've seen a critical package on a Saturday.

The company will even bring the toilet paper when they pick up the poop boxes! Now that is progress.

 

[TearsInRain]

This, is a lie.

okay you tell me why and how you know and then we can break out the measuring sticks

 

[TearsInRain]

Make the drones join the union.
We don't want scab drones doing our work, do we?

it would be hilarious if we developed AI more and the first thing it did was form a union

the collective butthurt in corporate america would be the greatest thing ever seen

 

[MyTripisCut]

okay you tell me why and how you know and then we can break out the measuring sticks

I’m not calling you a liar. I’m just saying that Over the last two years, I’ve heard a variation of this story, and I don’t believe it. That’s all.

 

[Staydryitsraining]

Who cares if he thinks that.

It is called having an opinion. Attacking people that have different opinions is silly and unproductive.

Do you live in California, Oregon or Washington state?

 

[quad decade guy]

Did you just make all this up

Make what up? Are you telling me that UPS is going to pay a "driver/pilot/whatever" to watch that

drone make a delivery? Why? Think critically about all this. Look at that picture you sent. Now apply

it to how our business is run. Your daily routine. Where does this fit. Again, we can't even make an

electric vehicle with more than a cursory range. We are light years away from AI of any consequence.

Lastly, (now think hard about this) can you(in your daily delivery routine) imagine stopping your pkg

car like in the picture, setting up the drone with a pkg, piloting it to completion etc.etc. When you could

have delivered the pkg and been long gone. And...what if the customer has a screened in porch or the

million other scenarios for DR(pilot release)? Or that dreaded German Shepherd waiting. Yeah, I just

made all this up. Ok genius, now you tell me how its going to revolutionize delivery.

 

[Maple Grove MN Driver]

Do you live in California, Oregon or Washington state?

Nope
I live in the Paradise known as Minnesota

 

[Justaloader]

Make what up? Are you telling me that UPS is going to pay a "driver/pilot/whatever" to watch that

drone make a delivery? Why? Think critically about all this. Look at that picture you sent. Now apply

it to how our business is run. Your daily routine. Where does this fit. Again, we can't even make an

electric vehicle with more than a cursory range. We are light years away from AI of any consequence.

Lastly, (now think hard about this) can you(in your daily delivery routine) imagine stopping your pkg

car like in the picture, setting up the drone with a pkg, piloting it to completion etc.etc. When you could

have delivered the pkg and been long gone. And...what if the customer has a screened in porch or the

million other scenarios for DR(pilot release)? Or that dreaded German Shepherd waiting. Yeah, I just

made all this up. Ok genius, now you tell me how its going to revolutionize delivery.

Why is every post you make double-spaced? Just curious.

 

[Nolimitz]

Why is every post you make double-spaced? Just curious.

and breaks in the middle of a freaking sentence. Needs remedial writing class.

 

[allahuakbar]

View attachment 268779
The company will even bring the toilet paper when they pick up the poop boxes! Now that is progress.

Did you just make all this up

Ups is gonna ignore that bitch just tore up someone’s grass by pulling that package car onto their field to launch a drone with a box of 2 sheets of paper.