U.S. Postal Service to boost purchases of electric vehicles
The Postal Service now wants 50% of its initial purchase of 50,000 next-generation vehicles to be electric, up from the previous plan for 20% being electric.
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Next frontier for drones is letting them fly out of sight
Aviation authorities in the U.S. and elsewhere are preparing to relax some of the safeguards they imposed to regulate a boom in off-the-shelf consumer drones over the past decade.
Congress passes bill to shore up Postal Service, delivery
Congress mustered rare bipartisan support for the Postal Service package, dropping some of the more controversial proposals to settle on core ways to save the service and ensure its future operations.
House OKs bill easing budget strains on Postal Service
Congress would lift onerous budget requirements that have helped push the Postal Service deeply into debt and would require it to continue delivering mail six days per week under bipartisan legislation the House approved Tuesday.
Kroger looks to hire local drivers for new home-delivery initiative
Grocery chain Kroger this month opened an east-side fulfillment center to facilitate home delivery in Indianapolis and Richmond.
Shippers prepare for another pandemic crush of holiday gifts
Nearly 3.4 billion parcels are expected to crisscross the country this holiday season, representing an estimated increase of about 400 million compared with last year.
USPS chief says post office ready for holiday package rush
U.S. Postal Service officials say they have the staffing and resources to handle the coming onslaught of holiday packages, and avoid a repeat of the disastrous 2020 season that brought mail delivery to a crawl.
Tight job market causing costs to rise at FedEx
The package delivery company said Tuesday that its costs are up $450 million in the most recent quarter, as it paid higher wages as it got harder to find new workers and demand for shipping increased.
Walmart to launch delivery service for other businesses
The strategy announced Tuesday will pit Walmart against the likes of Uber, DoorDash and other delivery services. It comes as Walmart moves to expand its sources of profits and revenues beyond its core retail businesses.
Dronedek to show off smart mailbox when it delivers hot wings to eating contest
The demonstration comes as Dronedek prepares a move to Lawrence, where it’s renovating a long-vacant building at 4423 Shadeland Ave. into its new headquarters.
Instant-delivery firm GoPuff quietly expanding roster of Indy fulfillment centers
Philadelphia-based GoPuff, a fast-growing company that entered the Indianapolis market in 2018, currently operates three micro-fulfillment centers here and plans to open two more.
Indy, Fishers will be test sites for contactless deliveries, automated cars
Three pilot programs planned for this year are more than just robo-taxi and delivery-bot science experiments. They’re dry runs for the real thing—possibly coming soon.
Election of Democratic chair portends change at struggling post office
A former labor leader and Obama administration official was elected Tuesday to serve as chair of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, marking the first step in a potential shakeup under President Joe Biden.
Drone mailbox developer planning to hire 85 for new Indianapolis office
DroneDek, an Indianapolis-based startup, said it has raised more than $1.25 million to support its upcoming product launch.
U.S. Postal Service ‘gridlocked’ as historic crush of holiday packages sparks delays
As a homebound nation increasingly shops online for holiday gifts, private express carriers FedEx and UPS have cut off delivery service for some retailers, sending massive volumes of packages to the Postal Service and creating major delays.
Online shopping surge could lead to holiday delivery delays
U.S. online holiday sales are expected to shatter previous records. Adobe Analytics, which measures sales at 80 of the top 100 U.S. online retailers, predicts a total of $189 billion in online holiday sales, a 33% increase compared to last year.
FedEx’s profit explodes as residential deliveries soar
Raj Subramaniam, president and chief operating officer at FedEx, said the company achieved “the growth that we expected to see over a period of three to five years … in a period of three to five months.”
Delivery giants Amazon, UPS, FedEx hiring tens of thousands
The delivery giants have seen a boom in residential deliveries since lockdowns kept consumers out of stores, and fear of contracting the virus has limited their shopping trips.
Market Wagon looks to expand produce-delivery service nationwide
The 4-year-old company uses proprietary software and legions of small farmers and gig drivers to create an Amazon-like system that delivers fresh produce, meats, dairy products and other local food.
Entrepreneurs launch local delivery service aimed at small retailers
The owners of Moonshot Games are launching a delivery service they say can help local independent retailers compete with Amazon.com and the big-box stores.