DroneUp Shifts Focus to Dallas/Fort Worth Operations with Walmart
DroneUp has decided to concentrate its drone delivery efforts in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, pivoting from operations in other states.
“For DroneUp, what drives our operations in Dallas are factors such as strong state government support, a high concentration of customers, favorable weather and terrain, collaboration opportunities with other industry players, and its central location, which provides easy access from nearly anywhere in the USA,” said John Vernon, the company’s chief technology officer.
Earlier, CEO Tom Walker mentioned to Axios that 18 Walmart delivery hubs in Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Tampa would close, affecting about 70 employees, or 17% of their workforce. The strategy now is to build bigger hubs in Dallas that can handle more deliveries.
“Since these hubs launched in 2022, we’ve been focused on learning about consumer and community acceptance, efficient operations and building a strong safety record,” he added. “By focusing on key markets, we can better hone our technology and grow more efficiently.”
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DroneUp recently achieved the capability to make 500 deliveries per day, aiming to make drone deliveries as affordable as options like DoorDash or Uber Eats. Vernon explained, “DroneUp already offers the qualitative benefits of faster delivery time (not including selection and packing) that supports hotter (or colder) food, without concerns of delivery tampering.”
Walker stated the current cost of $30 per drone delivery aims to drop below $7, making it competitive with ground-based methods but faster.
Currently, DroneUp operates from 11 Walmart locations in the DFW region, including Dallas, Plano, Murphy, Richardson, Mesquite, Rowlett, Colony, and three in Garland.
The focus on D/FW aligns with Walmart’s strategy shift for drone deliveries. Last January, Walmart planned to expand drone services in the D/FW area in partnership with DroneUp, Wing, and Zipline, covering 75% of the households.
In May, Walmart announced plans to extend DroneUp’s network to 34 sites across six states by year-end, potentially reaching 4 million U.S. households and delivering over a million packages annually.
However, Walmart’s recent strategy is to “saturate” the DFW drone market to understand scalable operations. The retailer, along with Wing, opened two new drone delivery sites in D/FW, with Zipline joining soon.
These new hubs will add to DroneUp’s 11 existing ones in DFW. Additionally, DroneUp continues operations from three Walmart stores in Arkansas and one in Virginia.
Vernon highlighted the development of the D/FW UAS Traffic Management (UTM) initiative as pivotal in making the area a drone delivery hub.
Last month, the FAA approved drone flights without a visual observer for both Zipline and Wing, marking a milestone in BVLOS operations within the same airspace.
DroneUp was key in developing the UTM system. “We’ve been deeply involved in transitioning UTM from controlled test environments to practical, real-world applications,” Vernon said. “From the outset, DroneUp was one of the few industry leaders actively defining the participation requirements and guiding the process.”
