Unused Auto Capacity to Deliver Packages in Congested Cities

Photo by Koushik Pal on Unsplash

Problem: NY/NJ delivery trucks exacerbate horrible congestion, plus it’s expensive and inefficient to reach numerous far-flung neighborhoods.

“The main entryway for packages into New York City, leading to the George Washington Bridge from New Jersey, has become the most congested interchange in the country. Trucks heading toward the bridge travel at 23 miles per hour, down from 30 m.p.h. five years ago…

Delivery trucks operated by UPS and FedEx double-park on streets and block bus and bike lanes. They racked up more than 471,000 parking violations last year, a 34 percent increase from 2013.”

source: “1.5 Million Packages a Day: The Internet Brings Chaos to N.Y. Streets” The New York Times, Oct. 27, 2019,

Idea: Utilize unused capacity from the 6 million automobile crossings between NJ and NYC every month to transport packages to neighborhoods* in all 5 boroughs. Expand to other congested cities if working.

*Example: from Paramus, NJ to Brooklyn’s Red Hook on a Saturday morning.

• Packages are locked in tamper-proof, weather-proof, reusable padded recycled plastic “Transport Boxes” (think shipping containers), with versions customized to fit the types of spaces below
• Spaces in vehicles where drivers could haul Transport Boxes: back seat, trunk, SUV cargo area, pickup bed, or (company-owned) “hitch box” attached to cargo hitch (image below — vehicle owner pays for own hitch)

• Drivers and vehicles pre-register with the service, which includes checks on credit, driving record and criminal background.
• Charge their credit card less than a dollar, then return funds greater than taken via direct deposit (to a different account?) and have user confirm the exact # of cents for each transaction, to verify their bank account (and piggy-back on the extensive ID checks needed to open a bank account)
• For individual trips, drivers would indicate planned destinations, routes and timing windows
• “Hot” pickup/drop off locations, where driver pulls in, license plate and registration are scanned, and the entire sealed case holding packages is loaded or unloaded in a single movement. Duration = under 60 seconds
• Pay drivers in either cash, EZ Pass credits, or (purchased at discount) Starbucks/Amazon gift card credits
• No vehicles with smoking, pets, or kids, or more than 7 years old
• Free towing service while en-route, in case of any vehicle breakdowns

Is there a driver and/or delivery niche that this might particularly appeal to, to start (like books for Amazon)?

Positives:

• Sharing & gig economy has trained people‘s thinking
• Some prospective drivers would find the nearly effortless new revenue as a welcome offset for expensive tolls and parking
• The efficiency of using unused capacity would appeal to green thinking
• Newsworthy — likely to get widespread PR coverage
• Could the US Postal Service be a customer?
• Could expensive specialty food items be packed in ice and delivered in 1 hour?
• HUGE opportunity to expand to include regional & nationwide distances
• Useful for B2B, B2C + C2C

Concerns:

• Is this efficient enough to improve meaningfully upon status quo?
• Would enough people actually do this, who go where and when deliveries are needed?
• Is there any/enough savings over status quo to pay people well enough to draw them in and keep them?
• How would the “near the last mile” infrastructure for Transport Box pickup and drop off get built? Maybe gas stations (very few in Manhattan) or Whole Foods (owned by Amazon)?
• Likely to be fewer cars and drivers in the future
• Legislative risk — service could be wiped out by the stroke of a pen (scooters / Airbnb)
• Possible technical disruption in the next decade (though perhaps some of this would help, such as local delivery robots that receive the Transport Boxes and deliver the last mile?) — autonomous vehicles, drones, delivery bots, etc.
• Phenomenally well-funded possible competitors / customers (Uber, AMZN, etc.)
• Would this be considered a “commercial” use of a personal vehicle, with negative insurance implications?
• What about illegal package contents (drugs, guns, bombs, etc.)?

UPDATE: While pursuing this as a startup, I learned about Roadie, which has raised tens of millions in venture capital and has delivery partnerships with Home Depot, UPS and lost/late luggage for Delta.