Fedex signs Nuro partnership to bring autonomous deliveries to your doorstep

0 0

By Matthew Griffin Future Transport 21st June 2021

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

In the future one of the things missing from your delivery vehicles will be the driver …

Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog.

Over the past few years Nuro has been taking some important steps toward a future of autonomous delivery via a variety of partnerships with some big names, and now it’s just landed what might be its biggest fish yet. The startup has entered an agreement with logistics giant FedEx, which has committed to using the startup’s autonomous delivery vehicles in the long-term and at a “large scale.”

Sweat sensor for wearables opens up a treasure trove of healthcare data

Since starting grocery delivery trials in Arizona with supermarket retailer Kroger back in 2018, Nuro has gone on to conduct similar trials with Domino’s, Walmart and CVS. In a significant milestone for the industry, it also recently earned the first ever autonomous vehicle exemption from the US Department of Transport for its R2 pod, which it began testing on the streets of Houston last year.

Courtesy: Nuro

FedEx, too, has dipped its toes in the autonomous delivery pond. In 2019 it unveiled what it called the SameDay Bot, a prototype battery-electric delivery pod that rolls down sidewalks and roadsides to complete same-day, last-mile deliveries.

FedEx will task Nuro’s vehicles with a similar responsibility, adding them to its existing fleet of 200,000 vehicles and using them to carry out last-mile deliveries. The pair have already begun testing in Houston, and will soon begin to incorporate Nuro’s delivery bots in those tests and scale up from there, targeting specific use cases and markets.

Healthcare breakthrough turns bacteria into cyborgs and drug factories

Beyond that, the details are rather scarce around what vehicles will be used, and when FedEx customers might expect a Nuro pod to drop a package at the door. Nuro does expect its technology to make FedEx’s operations more efficient, however, increasing its capacity and opening up new methods of delivery.

Source: Nuro

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is the founder and CEO of the World Futures Forum and the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working across the next 50 years, and is an award winning futurist, and author of “Codex of the Future” series.

Regularly featured in the global media, including AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, RT, Viacom, and WIRED, Matthew’s ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled. Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future.

A rare talent Matthew’s recent work includes mentoring Lunar XPrize teams, re-envisioning global education and training with the G20, and helping the world’s largest organisations envision and ideate the future of their products and services, industries, and countries.

Matthew's clients include three Prime Ministers and several governments, including the G7, Accenture, Aon, Bain & Co, BCG, Credit Suisse, Dell EMC, Dentons, Deloitte, E&Y, GEMS, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lego, McKinsey, PWC, Qualcomm, SAP, Samsung, Sopra Steria, T-Mobile, and many more.