In news that is part “oh, cool!” and part “eek, spooky!”, if you happen to order Wendy’s on DoorDash and you live in Christiansburg, Virginia, then your “dasher,” or delivery driver, may actually be a drone. Yes, you read that correctly. Back in August 2022, DoorDash paired with Wing to begin a drone delivery program in Australia. Now, it is set to launch a drone-powered delivery system in the US.
Consumers in Christiansburg, Va. will be able to order drone delivery orders from Wendys. Per the official press release, Harrison Shih, Senior Director of DoorDash Labs, says, “At DoorDash, we are committed to advancing last-mile logistics by building a multi-modal delivery platform that serves all sides of our marketplace. We’re optimistic about the value drone delivery will bring to our platform as we work to offer more efficient, sustainable, and convenient delivery options for consumers.”
“Beginning today, when DoorDash customers with an eligible address in Christiansburg, VA place a qualifying order in the DoorDash app from the Wendy’s located at 2355 N. Franklin Street, they will see the option to have their meal delivered by drone on the checkout page,” the release continued. “Once they select drone delivery and place their order, it will be prepared and packaged at the Wendy’s location and delivered via a Wing drone, typically in 30 minutes or less.”
According to DoorDash, they have plans to explore other cities across the United States later this year.
According to Cosimo Leipold of Wing, there were “tens of thousands” of customers who were drone-delivered orders since its launch in Australia in 2022, and since then, Wing has now made over 350,000 deliveries across three countries. DoorDash isn’t alone; other companies like Amazon and Walmart are also working on drone delivery programs, as per Dennis Lee at The Takeout.