Several countries are turning to this technology, but especially in sparsely populated areas. Last week, the Japanese teams tested their drone in a small town, in the middle of homes.
We knew about drone delivery tests in empty regions, in the countryside, in the mountains. For operators, it’s simpler, less risky. They don’t have to worry about the drone falling on a car or the package ending up on a roof. These are level 3 deliveries, meaning that the pilot can always keep an eye directly on his device. He constantly sees it in the distance.
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In Japan, Post Office teams are now attempting level 4 deliveries, those where the drone pilot loses sight of his vehicle flying over inhabited areas for several minutes. The machine is only controlled by its camera. Until now, this kind of professional flight was prohibited in Japan, but the government has just given the green light.
Japan Post conducts 1st drone delivery test over manned areas with no ground monitorshttps://t.co/in0umIuiN0
— The Mainichi (Japan Daily News) (@themainichi) April 3, 2023
The very first tests take place in Okutama, a small town west of Tokyo. We are far from the megalopolis. In concrete terms, an operator worked from the roof of the post office in the center of the town. He loaded, under his drone, a package of a little less than a kilo and he flew the machine in a straight line above the houses to the customer’s residence which was located a little more than two kilometers. The drone landed for a few seconds to gently drop its package on the ground, in front of the customer’s house, and it took off again to automatically return to its base.
Reduce the workload of delivery people
In total, the delivery took less than ten minutes. For a classic delivery with a postal vehicle, in this village, a little hilly, with lots of small alleys, it takes 30 minutes. So three times as long. Japan Post wants to launch this service in a year or two. This is one of the few solutions to compensate for the lack of personnel. Like all businesses in Japan, the Post Office is facing population decline and labor shortages.
It must also adapt to new laws that aim to better protect the health of delivery drivers who work a record number of overtime hours in Japan. From next year, the maximum number of overtime hours per delivery driver will be limited to 960 hours per year. After the reform, their working days will still be around 12 hours a day.