Analyst Insight: The decades-old practice of a delivery truck dropping off a package at a home or business occurs millions of times daily across the globe. But new ways to cover last-mile delivery - such as drones, self-navigating parcel robots and underground vehicles/tunnels - are providing a glimpse into what tomorrow's last-mile delivery options might look like. Here are three technologies that carry the potential to transform the local delivery of direct-to-consumer orders. – John Johnson, senior content specialist, Gartner
DHL Express is piloting a cargo bicycle program for inner-city deliveries. The bikes, called 'DHL Cubicycles' are customized, four-wheel bikes that can carry a container with a load of up to 125 kilograms (one cubic meter in volume). The program reduces emissions by minimizing the mileage and time spent on the road by standard delivery vehicles. As e-commerce volumes surge, efforts to minimize the industry's high carbon footprint are increasingly important.
Package delivery company United Parcel Service Inc says it will consider raising prices across the board in coming years to offset pressure on margins, particularly from the rising costs of delivering packages to e-commerce customers.
The U.S. Postal Service says it lost $200m during the year-end holiday season, despite a strong quarter of package shipping and expanded use of vote-by-mail in the November presidential election.
The availability of same-day delivery is still catching up with demand as retailers seek new ways to combat Amazon, according to a new study from L2 on the omnichannel fulfillment landscape and customer expectations. This could be an opportunity area for retailers as delivery partners can make same-day a reality across a wider swath of the country than Amazon, which covers 27 U.S. markets at present.
Zhang Heng barged through an exam-room door, surprising a doctor and a patient. He didn't have time to knock. In Zhang's business, every second counts.
DNV GL and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) have signed an MOU to further innovation in intelligent shipping systems. The renewed MOU extends an earlier collaboration for another three years and expands it to now include autonomous technologies, intelligent shipping and data analytics.
Firing yet another salvo in its ongoing e-commerce war with Amazon, Walmart is eliminating its fee-based ShippingPass program less than a year after it was created to counter to Amazon Prime, instead offering free two-day shipping on 2 million items at a $35 order threshold.
In a move similar to UPS and its access point location program launched two years ago, FedEx has struck a deal with Walgreens that will place staffed parcel pickup and drop-off operations at local Walgreens stores.
