Are Drones the Future of Cargos Shipment?

Author: Rolands Petersons
Source: Rolands Petersons

Rolands Petersons (Latvia), Member of the Board of Norman Logistics GmbH:

Lately I have repeatedly kept up with the information about the possibilities of cargos shipment by using unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. According to different research, the consumers see this new type of cargos shipment and are ready to pay additionally for this service. Of course, for military purposes – delivery of food and medicinal products – this could be a good alternative; however, at many places the delivery of parcels by means of drones under everyday situations also becomes more and more common. This makes to think, how in future will change and will be adjusted the classical types of cargos shipment – by railway, sea, land and air.

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The most important property of a cargo drone is the shortening of delivery time. This comprises also reducing jams, as well as the reducing of harmful exhaust fumes and consumption of fuel.

Medical transport is one of the global spheres, where drones are particularly necessary, especially in far situated and difficult to reach areas. When problems concern health, the speed is a decisive factor. Due to this reason, in different countries the shipment of medical machinery is carried out by drones.

Earlier drones were widely used for military and observation purposes; lately they have entered the consumers' market – in the sphere of civil needs and trade. The drones have considerably lower costs regarding the cargos shipment than it is in case of other motor transport vehicles, and drones offer considerably shorter delivery period.

Regions, where nowadays drones are used most often, are African countries. Most of drones in this region are used for humanitarian purposes. At present, cargos shipment is mostly implemented also in America, Australia, Iceland, Switzerland and Great Britain.

Iceland carries out regular consignment deliveries by drones. In order to enlarge the delivery network and ensure efficient and short delivery period for clients in Reykjavik, one of the largest e-commerce companies in Iceland AHA cooperates with Flytrex, which is one of the best drone manufacturing companies in the world. In this figure we can see the way for consignment delivery by drone. The red line shows the motor transport way, but the green one – the way for the delivery by drone, which is almost three times shorter and thus also faster.

Source: medium.com

When using a drone, safety regarding the cargos shipment is one of the most important problems in the world. The experts find that drones do not expose to danger the safety of other vehicles, as well as their own safety during the flight. First, these cargo drones during their flight are not at the height and in the area of the flight of ordinary aircrafts.

Unmanned aerial vehicles are a sweet piece cake for and a target of cyber offenders. It provides new challenges for the experts of cyber safety regarding the prevention of cyber attacks on a drone that is moving.

The fast food companies in some countries use drones to deliver food on a regular basis. But US postal service already considers the possibility to carry out delivery by drones.

Cargo drones may become also the future of shipping industry. Nowadays the container ships delivery more than 90% of all global goods and annually exceed USD 4 trillions, as show data of World Shipping Council. Sometimes, within the framework of such shipments there passes the considerable period of time, which again proves that the global market of drone logistics and shipment may be ready and open for functioning.

The problems that still regard the shipments carried out by drones are the shipments and control of illegal and prohibited objects, as well as the density of the points of drone routs. It is a fact that the prototypes of many drones that carry out the process of shipment nowadays have been designed for the delivery of one parcel. It causes the necessity to register a separate drone for each shipment.

Anyway, in the future, the drone is a real solution for the shipment of cargos and parcels that shall find possibilities to increase the shipment capacity and the period of the functioning of battery.

For example, China now is working on designing such a drone the carrying capacity of which may independently reach 20 tons of cargo. Then it would become the largest commercial unmanned aerial vehicle in the world. Besides, this drone might be used also for other needs, for example, for forest monitoring, places of disasters and rescue operations. The first flight if this drone is planned already for the next year (2020), and the above mentioned cargo drone might reduce by half the traditional aerial cargo shipment costs, because there is no crew and the drone needs less fuel.

Thus we have come closer to an efficient type of the transportation of goods using drones. Could it be really the valuable future of cargos shipment?

Rolands Petersons (Latvia) is a Member of the Board of Norman Logistics GmbH. As an entrepreneur, he studies the situation and keeps track of global economy tendencies, and as an economy expert he has his views and opinions of regarding global economy issues.

About the company: Norman Logistics GmbH is based in Dortmund, Germany. This company operates in Europe and also in many other major logistics centres in the world. The core business is a cargo brokerage, mainly marine cargo. Norman Logistics customers are significant EU companies which his production transport throughout marine cargo. And service providers are medium or large shipping companies. The mission of Norman Logistics is convenient logistics and one point service for the same price, individual and best quality approach.

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