DSV to expand Canadian drone programme

DSV Panalpina will utilise Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) on a second route, delivering healthcare related cargo from the forwarder’s warehouse in Milton, Ontario to customers locally.

DDC will deploy its Sparrow cargo drone, which at destination will hover at a lowered altitude, drop un-tethered cargo in a designated area shared by multiple DSV customers, then return to DSV’s DroneSpot. 

The route is approximately 3.5 km and flights will be remotely monitored by DDC from its operations control centre located in Vaughan, Ontario.  

Services are set to get underway in the third quarter of the year, with the contract lasting three months. New routes could potentially be added in the future.

“We are currently flying hundreds of successful flights per month at DSV for their first route, and we are pleased to announce a second paid route with DSV.  DSV is a global leader in the logistics space and a perfect fit as a scalable customer for us,” said Michael Zahra, president and chief executive of  DDC.

“DSV will use our proven Sparrow drone with the new cargo drop functionality, patented FLYTE system, and commercial operations centre. It’s very fulfilling to DDC to provide DSV a solution to help deliver important healthcare related cargo given the current situation.”

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Martin Roos, managing director of DSV Air & Sea Canada, added: “During this critical time, we have helped many of our clients find new ways of delivering cargo.

“In order to keep goods flowing through the supply chain, innovative solutions are key to embrace. Drone delivery provides an answer to many of the challenges we’ve seen during the current situation.

“Our partnership with DDC and Air Canada Cargo provides the opportunity to fulfill our clients’ needs, ensuring time sensitive, critical cargo can be delivered locally with accuracy, efficiency and minimal person-to-person contact. “