DPD to roll out robot deliveries to 10 UK towns and cities

Delivery company DPD has announced plans to expand its robot delivery service to 10 UK towns and cities in the next 12 months, starting with Raunds in Northamptonshire.

The roll out follows what the firm reported to be a “successful trial” in Milton Keynes and will extend DPD’s ongoing relationship with AI-powered robotics specialist, Cartken.

DPD said that it had identified up to 30 UK depot locations where robots could potentially be deployed after it first introduced the service in July 2022.

From a DPD depot at Raunds’ Warth Park, the robots are set to deliver to nearby residential areas within a mile of the location via the existing network of footpaths.

Recipients will be notified of a robot delivery in advance, DPD noted, with the robot to be dispatched once they confirm they are at home to accept the parcel.

It will then be possible to track the delivery’s progress on a map before being notified of its arrival and supplied with a code to open a compartment to the parcel.

In a release, Tim Jones, director of marketing, communications and sustainability DPD Group UK, said: "We set out to understand the role that delivery robots could play in certain locations in the UK and the trial has helped us identify more sites where we could deploy the robots successfully.

"Our aim is to be the UK's most sustainable delivery company and that means investing in innovations and trying new things.

“We are well on our way to decarbonising our van fleet with EVs and we are also making a big step forward by switching our HGVs to renewable biofuel, but we are also interested in brand new solutions that can help us transition to a smarter, more sustainable future."