ZTO Express completes first trial delivery using a UAS

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An express delivery company in China called ZTO Express has announced that it has successfully completed its first trial delivery using a UAS.

The UAS, which was developed by a domestic UAS producer and custom designed for ZTO, flew nearly nine miles, as it traveled from ZTO's sorting facility in Le Qing county, Zhejiang Province to the office building of an enterprise customer in the same county.

According to Meisong Lai, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ZTO, this delivery would have taken about 50 minutes using traditional ground transportation. That time estimate takes into account traffic conditions, gate checks, wait times for elevators and other factors.

Using the UAS though, this delivery took less than 20 minutes.

“This test successfully demonstrated that we can shave 60% off our traditional delivery times using drones,” Lai says.

Lai adds that UAS could be especially beneficial to rural areas for deliveries, “as they can improve accessibility, ease labor shortages, and reduce logistical costs and delivery time of the entire network.”

The UAS used for this trial delivery has a number of unique characteristics. Besides not requiring a remote control since its destination can be preprogrammed, the UAS also has a maximum range of nearly 19 miles, a maximum load carrying capacity of 22 pounds, and it is also equipped with a 6.6 gallon container.