This paper investigates the end-user acceptance of last-mile delivery carried out by autonomous vehicles within the United States. A total of 296 participants were presented with information on this technology and then asked to complete a questionnaire on their perceptions to gauge their behavioral intention concerning acceptance. Structural equation modeling of the partial least squares flavor (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyze the collected data. The results indicated that the perceived usefulness of the technology played the greatest role in end-user acceptance decisions, followed by the influence of others, and then the enjoyment received by interacting with the technology. Furthermore, the perception of risk associated with using autonomous delivery vehicles for last-mile delivery led to a decrease in acceptance. However, most participants did not perceive the use of this technology to be risky. The paper concludes by summarizing the implications our findings have on the respective stakeholders, and proposing the next steps in this area of research.

FedEx and Nuro are teaming up to test autonomous delivery vehicles. The companies signed a multi-year, multi-phase agreement to pilot Nuro's autonomous delivery vehicles in the Houston area. The pilot, which will start in April 2021, marks Nuro's expansion into parcel logistics and allows FedEx to explore various use cases for on-road autonomous vehicle logistics, including multi-stop and appointment-based deliveries. Tackling the challenges of last-mile delivery has been a priority for FedEx and other logistics companies for years. These challenges have only grown with the rapid growth of e-commerce combined with the ongoing labor shortages across the logistics sector.

The coronavirus pandemic changed the way businesses of almost all types operate virtually overnight, hurting most and redefining which ones are truly essential in what quickly became the new normal for billions of people around the world. And it brought with it an unexpected kind of acceleration of trends, forcing the closure of businesses that would have struggled on for a few more years, while bringing a global spotlight to technologies that would have remained relatively obscure or experimental for years to come. Market trends that otherwise would have taken years to evolve transformed in a matter of weeks, it seemed, retiring outdated concepts while stretching emerging tech to its limits. One segment suddenly in the spotlight--and that seemingly saw years of demand and market interest explode in a matter of days--is delivery robots, which until the month of March had seen moderate interest from Silicon Valley and some skepticism from the general public. Suddenly, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' comment in 2013 that the company was researching parcel delivery via flying drones went from a pie in the sky whimsy with seemingly few advantages to something that businesses large and small needed in 2020.

Last week, Waymo announced a partnership to build autonomous Jaguar vehicles for its upcoming self-driving taxi service, which will augment its existing fleet of Chryslers. But today Bloomberg reported that the Alphabet company is nearing a deal with a third automaker, Honda, that may lead the pair to collaborate on an entirely new vehicle. The deal will reportedly boost Waymo's capacity in'delivery and logistics' rather than moving people, which its anticipated ride-sharing service had assumedly been focused on. While Waymo has been in talks with Honda since late 2016, this news came from Bloomberg's profile of John Krafcik, the Alphabet company's chief executive. Whether both companies' collaborative plans include making a wholly new vehicle is still speculative.

DETROIT – Ford Motor Co. is making Miami-Dade County its new test bed for self-driving vehicles. The automaker and its partners -- Domino's Pizza, ride-hailing company Lyft and delivery company Postmates -- are starting pilot programs to see how consumers react to autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles. Self-driving startup and Ford partner Argo AI already has a fleet of cars in the area making the highly detailed maps that are necessary for self-driving. Ford also will establish its first-ever autonomous vehicle terminal in Miami, where it will learn how to service and deploy its test fleet. More services will likely be introduced as the partnership goes on, including Chariot, an app-based shuttle service owned by Ford.

Ford Motor Co. is making Miami-Dade County its new test bed for self-driving vehicles. The automaker and its partners - Domino's Pizza, ride-hailing company Lyft and delivery company Postmates - are starting pilot programs to see how consumers react to autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles. Self-driving startup and Ford partner Argo AI already has a fleet of cars in the area making the highly detailed maps that are necessary for self-driving. Ford also will establish its first-ever autonomous vehicle terminal in Miami, where it will learn how to service and deploy its test fleet. Ford is making Miami-Dade County its new test bed for self-driving vehicles.