Watch out Walmart, Target, Blue Apron, Grub Hub and any grocery chain entering the food delivery business.  The great white shark of delivery services will soon be in the water.  Amazon.com's $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods instantly makes it a major player in the U.S. grocery industry and that leaves a lot for shoppers, retailers and other companies involved in the industry to take notice. This deal marks the beginning of an era where the e-commerce giant pushes to enter the brick-and-mortar world, marking its next grocery-related milestone after it announced plans to launch Amazon Go, a checkout-free grocery store. 

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Amazon has been reshaping Logistics for many years.  They are now poised to leverage today's technology to redefine the supply chain process.  Logistics providers everywhere would be well advised to pay attention.

Industry experts are defining what it will take to make autonomous vehicles a practical and safety reality.

An anticipated increase in fuel prices are likely to increase shipping costs for U.S. manufacturers in 2017 in the form of higher fuel surcharges. 

Both the drone industry and federal regulators are years away from actual legal drone deliveries in the United States, but that’s not stopping companies from testing possibilities. UPS successfully completed its first drone delivery from a delivery truck. The drone is designed to be stationed on the roof of the truck and to be launched from and return to the roof based launch pad.

Monday’s test, performed in Lithia, Fl, with Workhorse Group, an Ohio-based electric truck and drone developer, sent the drone first on an autonomous package delivery and then back to the truck, while the truck was out making a separate delivery.The drone docks on the roof of the delivery truck. A cage suspended beneath the drone, extends through a hatch into the truck.

A UPS driver inside loads a package into the cage and presses a button on a touch screen, sending the drone on a preset autonomous route to an address. The battery-powered HorseFly drone recharges while it’s docked. It has a 30-minute flight time and can carry a package weighing up to 10 pounds.

This test has specific delivery implications for some UPS customers. It has implications for future deliveries, especially in rural locations, where our package cars often have to travel miles to make a single delivery,” said Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice president of global engineering and sustainability. Rural delivery routes are the most expensive to serve, due to the time and vehicle expenses required to complete each delivery.

While the drone is making its delivery, the driver would continue to the next stop, make another delivery by hand, and the drone would then rendezvous and recharge on top of the UPS package car. The drone is fully autonomous. It doesn’t require a pilot. So, the delivery driver is free to make other deliveries while the drone is away.

UPS has been a leader in efficiency improvements in its operation. Years ago, they programmed their delivery routes to maximize right turns taking advantage of right turn on red opportunities, rather than sit at a red light to go left. They continue to maximize delivery efficiency with this drone application.

Last year, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued small unmanned aircraft systems rules that allow for some commercial use of drones and paved the way for future expanded applications. UPS was one of 35 selected from a cross section of key stakeholders to serve on the FAA’s drone advisory committee. The committee will provide the FAA recommendations on key drone integration issues that will ultimately allow for safe and secure operations of drones within the National Air Space System.

Mike Pence, just days ahead of being sworn in as the country’s new Vice President, assured hundreds gathered for the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ annual meeting that Donald Trump will follow through with an infrastructure plan. The infrastructure issue is a big deal in the North East portion of the county; the further East- the older the original construction. Adding to the age and history, the daily pounding the roads and bridges endure in the Northeast from 80,000 pound commercial vehicles, it is no wonder the turnpike bridge linking New Jersey to Pennsylvania was shut down recently for major structural repair.

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act rule on Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food has recently been finalized, advancing the FDA’s efforts to protect foods from farm to table by keeping them safe from contamination during transportation.

President Trump’s cancellation of an agreement for a sweeping trade deal with Asia has begun the renegotiation of America’s role in the global economy. This abrupt move, so early in the Trump administration, puts the world on notice that all of America’s traditional economic and political alliances are now open to reassessment. 

Among the top retailers who closed stores in 2016:

Sports Authority: 460 stores shutting down.
Walmart: Closing 269 stores, including 154 U.S. locations.
Aeropostale: 154 stores closing.
Kmart/Sears: 78 stores closing.
Ralph Lauren: Closing at least 50 stores.

The convenience of online shopping is the biggest challenge that brick and mortar retailers have faced in perhaps the history of their existence. Walmart is one of the few to have recognized the threat early and invest the capital to develop a robust online shopping alternative. Those who did not recognize the threat and react are those with vacant stores. It is the age of the super-sized e-commerce retailers like Amazon, Ebay and hundreds of others that are attracting the consumer dollars. The dominance of these mega online outlets is based on lower prices, many more options, and the convenience factor; sit at home on the couch and surf. Thus, many national and chain retainers must cut back or close up.

Brick and Mortar's New Role

Amazon has just been awarded a patent for an "airborne fulfillment center utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles for item delivery." Though the patent was granted in April 2016, the plans for it have just gone public on the US Patent and Trademark Office website. What they describe sounds like something out of a Jestson's cartoon episode. The blimps would serve as floating and mobile warehouses. Unmanned drones would be loaded with deliveries for that particular market.