DPD to take autonomous robot deliveries to Lincoln

Parcel delivery company DPD has announced that Lincoln will be the fourth location in which they will use autonomous robots to make deliveries.

The imminent arrival of the machines in the city represents part of a nationwide roll-out that could see up to 30 depots operating robots across the UK.

The company’s robots first appeared in Milton Keynes in July 2022 (as shown in the above video), and they are now also delivering parcels in Raunds and Bristol, with more locations to be announced later this year.

The machines will be based at DPD’s depot at St Modwens Park,  and will deliver to the nearby village of Witham St Hughs, using the existing network of footpaths.

The bots can operate autonomously once they have completed a mapping process, during which it is fully supervised and controlled by remote control.

The robots, which have a battery life of up to 12 hours, and will deliver to homes within a mile of the depot, making up to 30 deliveries a day.

If you’re having a parcel delivered,  you will be notified by text when the bot is outside your property and given a one-time pin code to open the robot and take the parcel. Once the compartment is closed, the robot will either continue to its next delivery or return to the depot.

DPD has worked closely with Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) on the introduction of the robots in Witham St Hughs.

Cllr Richard Davies, executive member for Highways at LCC said: ‘This is a very interesting trial of the system, and we will be watching it closely to see how it goes. Technology such as this is clearly part of the future of traffic and highways use so it’s good to be involved at such an early stage. We are interested in the outcomes of this trial and where it could lead for the future.’

Tim Jones, Director of Marketing, Communications & Sustainability DPDgroup UK said, ‘The robots have been a huge success for us. They have exceeded our expectations in terms of their effectiveness and the feedback from parcel recipients has been fantastic. As result, I’m confident that residents will welcome them. The robots have proven themselves in a range of different locations, and having started out as a trial, we have now identified up to 30 depots where they could operate very successfully.

‘As a company we are committed to investing in innovation, learning and challenging ourselves to find new ways to improve our operation and become more sustainable. Our journey to Net Zero is largely dependent on employing ever smarter technologies and, while the robots are one small part of that, they are a great example of integrating autonomous technology into our operation.’

In August, DPD announced that they had reached the milestone of having one third of its final mile van fleet electric. They also revealed that 95% of its HGV fleet is now running on Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil.