The delivery and courier industry progressed remarkably over the years by making its way from bicycle deliveries to air freight. One of the very first courier companies, UPS Inc., started with the bicycle. Today, the company is worth billions of dollars and is also one of the biggest in the world. Other courier companies include DHL and FedEx Corp, Purolator, etc. Online businesses highly depend on these courier participants to get their products to the consumer. They invest a lot of money in the transportation of these goods. The automotive industry frequently makes use of cargo freight to market and sell their vehicles worldwide. A common method that is used to better delivery time is the building of more warehouses in various locations. Online stores such as Amazon build more warehouses to compete with their market competitors. Regardless of the price being better than the other, consumers want their goods delivered in the shortest time possible. As we are heading into the future by the rapid development of technology, below are a few crazy futuristic ways to shorten the shipping time.
Drones
The drone is a masterpiece that we use today to film and capture places that are quite hard or nearly impossible to reach. Vloggers, videographers, and photographers often make use of drones to enhance their work specifically for those that have YouTube channels or blogs. In some parts of the world, governments are heavily opposed to drones as they can be used to spy, film, and capture moments that are illegal or restricted. However, many believe that law enforcement and secret agencies make use of drones to spy on their targets. Nonetheless, I believe that drones can be used to deliver goods to the consumer in the future.
Imagine a warehouse that is fully automated with hundreds, perhaps thousands of drones able to deliver items in the blink of an eye. Instead of waiting five days for your order, you’ll get it in less than 24-48 hours. This depends on the number of drones available in each warehouse. Courier time will be incredibly shortened which will, in turn, increase the demand for the goods. As soon as an order is placed, a drone registers the order and the drop-off location point. When the drone is ready to collect a specific order at the warehouse, the worker will hook the item to the drone, click a button and let the artificial intelligence system do the rest. Alternatively, the drone will be able to load the item by itself but this might lead to staff being laid off. A smart drone system to take over the courier industry will revolutionize the way we receive our items from an online purchase.
Underground Conveyor Tunnels
Underground tunnels or pipes are all over the world. It’s underneath your house, school, workplace, street, and even the sports field. Tunnels are used for a great number of reasons. Although, it’s mostly used to push water, gas, and oil to various locations. These commodities can be pushed to city buildings, homes, and even manufacturing plants. In certain factories or warehouses, conveyor belts and smart mechanical systems are used to move materials or goods from one end of the warehouse to the other end.
Megafactories such as an automobile factory, a Coca-Cola factory, or an Amazon warehouse have conveyor belts and robots that operate non-stop to maintain the highest production input and output on a 24-hour timescale.
Below are the most common different types of courier services:
Next-Day Delivery
Same-Day delivery
Standard Delivery (3-5 working days)
Worldwide Delivery
The first two are always at an extra cost, the third one is normally free and the last one is mainly for goods such as cars, weapons, trucks, produce and natural minerals, etc. I would like to add a fifth one to the list, which I think will be available in the future - immediate delivery via underground conveyor belts. The logistics and technology still need to be designed and created for this. However, I think that the specific technology already exists. The logistics, on the other hand, must be carefully figured out.
If a construction or a courier company were to build underground tunnels/pipes with fast-moving conveyor belts or a different method to transfer the goods, the big players in online retail will want to make use of this method. You’re probably thinking that it’ll be absolute madness to build a tunnel that leads to every property in the country. No! This is not the case. The tunnels from one warehouse/factory can lead to an automated collection point. For example, if I purchase a new mobile phone online, the website will give me an ETA as to when it will arrive. At the pickup point, there will be a vast number of lockers. A code will be sent to my mobile phone or email that needs to be typed in on the locker. The locker will generate a new code for the next customer as soon as I collect my item. The closing of the locker door will send a signal to the warehouse/factory that the next item can be transported.
There are many ways items can be delivered to the recipient. I’m thinking of the future of couriers and in how many ways they can evolve.
Helicopter Dropshipping
Yes! The name says it all. Helicopters, specifically cargo-like ones, can also be part of the courier industry, not just airplanes. This is an expensive form of courier but it doesn’t have to be - in the future. Electric vehicles are already driving the streets. Why can’t hybrid helicopters join the industry? This will save the company a ton of money because aviation fuel won’t be used.
In terms of couriering items from the warehouse to the consumer, the hybrid helicopter will be loaded with goods by the workers and manually flown to the consumer’s home. Of course, the helicopter won’t be able to land at the client's front door. There may be an alternative way to accomplish this. I call it the “dropchopper" method. With the advancement of technology, the packages can be hooked on to a small or medium-sized affordable parachute that is guided by GPS. If a package is drop chopped, it will land in front of the client's door.
If the customer wishes to return the product immediately for a refund or swap, they can raise it on the website, be provided with a locker code, and send it back to the warehouse at a pick-up/drop point. The underground delivery tunnel and the dropchopper method can also work hand in hand.
The above are three of many crazy ways as to how courier and delivery can be executed in the future. Courier companies and online stores are constantly thinking of solutions to better their delivery time scale. Well, that's why I'm here - to lay down as to what is going on in my head.
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