By Emma Nitzsche
FedEx announced a partnership with Nuro, a startup tech company that creates self-driving electric cargo vehicles, to integrate autonomous vehicles into its package delivery.
The compact vehicle from Nuro, known as R2, was built to transport packages, groceries, and pizza deliveries. The company has a history of working with CVS, Kroger, and Domino’s pizza to transport food and groceries.
Created by former members of Google’s self-driving car project, Nuro has received over $1.4 billion in investment rounds led by Toyota’s Woven Capital, Softbank, and Greylock Management. The compact car was the first driverless vehicle to receive U.S. approval to operate on public streets without a steering wheel and brake pedals.
R2 is equipped with a 360-degree vision system for monitoring other vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, and road conditions as it travels down city streets and highways. Inside, the car has two cargo bays and doors that open on the right side of the street. FedEx estimates the electric vehicle can hold up to twelve packages, each with a separate lockbox where customers can enter a unique code to retrieve their packages.
Rebecca Yeung, the vice president of advanced technology and innovation, told TechCrunch that the company “was built on innovation, and it continues to be an integral part of our culture and business strategy.”
The new robotic drivers are met with some hesitation as many fear the eventual extinction of human delivery drivers. Nuro has noted in the past that its robot won’t eliminate all driver jobs.
Right now, R2 can only deliver to customers who are at home during the time of the delivery. Before the robot visits a house, customers are prompted to make an appointment to pick up their package. If a customer is unable to stay at home and make an appointment, a traditional delivery driver will drop off the package at their door. Additionally, human drivers are necessary for more complicated deliveries through apartment complexes or business parks.
Regardless of how technology progresses, humans are still needed to manage and oversee a fleet of robots. Some employees will soon transition to become robot supervisors – a job that requires them to fill up R2 with packages, monitor its progress on the road, recharge it at night, and solve any mechanical issues. However, the advantage for FedEx is that one person will be able to manage several robots at once instead of multiple drivers delivering packages across a city.
