UPS Starts Commercial Drone Tests
UPS Inc., teaming up with drone-maker CyPhy Works, announced drone tests to deliver packages in remote areas.
The first test was earlier in the week of Sept. 19 to move medicine from a Boston area community to Children’s Island, located about three miles from the mainland and without automobile access. UPS also has done drone application tests inside warehouses to track stock availability and assessment of relief aid deliveries, also in hard-to-reach locations.
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The test followed the Federal Aviation Administration's move in August to define how drones can be used in commercial applications.
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“Our focus is on real-world applications that benefit our customers,” said Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice president of global engineering and sustainability. “We think drones offer a great solution to deliver to hard-to-reach locations in urgent situations where other modes of transportation are not readily available.”
UPS previously made an unspecified investment in CyPhy to assess drone capabilities, according to the statement from UPS, which ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
“With the recent appointment of Capt. Houston Mills, UPS Airlines’ director of safety, to the FAA’s new drone advisory committee, UPS intends to keep working closely with regulators to stay on the right path,” according to the company statement.
Helen Greiner, founder of Massachusetts-based CyPhy, said the statement that “Drone technology used in [the island shipment test] can save lives and deliver products and services to places that are difficult to reach by traditional transit infrastructures.”
