Amazon's drone delivery service lands in Metro Detroit
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If you see a big white-and-blue drone flying overhead, chances are it's making an Amazon delivery.
Why it matters: Amazon Prime Air is expanding drone deliveries in Metro Detroit, but the operation remains a small layer within the company's massive warehouse and driver network.
Driving the news: Amazon invited reporters to tour its drone delivery project last week at the company's Pontiac fulfillment center, built on the former Silverdome site.
- The service launched there in November.
State of play: The company operates 14 drones out of the facility that collectively average more than 100 deliveries a day, according to Amazon.
- Customers within a 7.5-mile radius can select drone delivery at checkout for packages weighing 5 pounds or less.
- Amazon says the goal is to deliver packages within two hours.
"We max out our capacity every single day," Lauren Wilson, Amazon Prime Air operations manager in Pontiac, said during the tour.
The big picture: Prime Air is tiny compared with Amazon's broader logistics footprint in Michigan.
- Amazon says its Pontiac fulfillment center employs roughly 3,600 workers, with staffing climbing above 4,000 during peak shopping periods.
- The site ships roughly 5 million units weekly and stores about 80 million items, according to company officials during the tour.
- Statewide, Amazon says it employs more than 21,000 full- and part-time workers.
Zoom in: The company repeatedly framed drone delivery as a supplement to — not a replacement for — its traditional delivery network.
- Wilson said Amazon relies on DSP, or delivery service partner, drivers when weather grounds drone flights.
What they're saying: Asked whether expanding drone deliveries could reduce driver routes in the future, Wilson said the service is "really intended to be a complement."
- "I don't know that I've heard of any reduction in packages" moving through traditional delivery operations, she added.
On expanding into Detroit, Wilson said she is unsure what limitations the city might present, adding that Amazon is exploring launches in even larger cities.
How it works: The drones fly autonomously along programmed flight paths, though FAA-certified employees monitor each flight from launch to landing.
- Drones descend to within 13 feet of the ground during deliveries.
Zoom out: Amazon also has a Prime Air location in Hazel Park and in Arizona, Texas, Florida and Kansas as the company expands the service nationwide.