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Well, trucks don't have to burn fossil fuels either. There's no reason we can't switch to electric trucks, which will be quiet and won't pollute (at least in th

Well, trucks don't have to burn fossil fuels either. There's no reason we can't switch to electric trucks, which will be quiet and won't pollute (at least in their location). As for danger and traffic, I'd be surprised if low-altitude air traffic, air collisions and falling objects didn't become an issue in a world where delivery drones were commonplace. It stands to reason that rolling boxes in bulk around on wheels should be a lot more energy efficient and reliable than flying individual boxes around in the air. I'm sure drones have a place, but they can't replace bulk delivery.

IanCal 10y ago
> It stands to reason that rolling boxes in bulk around on wheels should be a lot more energy efficient and reliable than flying individual boxes around in the air. Not necessarily. It would stand to reason if you were comparing identical routes, but we're not. Rolling around the boxes in bulk requires travelling in quite restricted ways, through often congested areas, and because it's in bulk needs to travel to every location on the route. So the final box has been carried far further than the distance it needed to. How much more efficient could you make your route in a normal truck if you were able to remove, say, 5 boxes from your load. That's 5 locations you can take away from your overall plan. How many truck miles can you remove from your journey? How many drone miles must you add?