Recently, at a dinner with one of our customers, we heard the following phrase: “You met the world where it is.”
Interesting thought, but what did that mean?
After more questioning and speaking to our other customers, we learned the following:
Udelv’s most important product- perhaps as relevant as our technology and more valuable than our patents- is our mindset as a delivery-first company.
At Udelv, we build self-driving delivery cars. We recognize that we are working on the cutting edge of one of the most fundamentally challenging and potentially revolutionary technologies of our generation. Self-driving cars are going to change the world. It is no longer a question of if.
Udelv’s ADVs have been delivering for Walmart in Surprise, Arizona since January 2019.
That said, we find ourselves at the cusp of this change. Companies are trying to understand how to act decisively and with vision. Individuals are debating safety and policy in their communities. Legislators are working to bring their constituencies to the forefront of this change. While there is a lot of excitement, there is a lot of change that must first take place in the world to bring about a future of ubiquitous autonomous delivery vehicles.
So while we, in our corner of the world, are as bullish as can be about the future of AV, we also recognize that change is not easy. So we decided to build ourselves ready to adapt and grow alongside change, not entirely reliant on it.
Being a delivery first company means we are operators as much as technologists. We look at everything through the lens of our customers today, not simply our rosy visions of the future of autonomous transportation. We build for tomorrow and recognize the requirements of today.
A customer retrieves groceries from the Udelv Newton ADV.
So in the end, we recognize that our job, our promise to our customers, is two-fold.
First- we will always get deliveries done. No matter what, our job is to be reliable as a delivery company.
Second- we will be the best teacher about the future of delivery. We succeed when our clients become the best in their industry at reaping the benefits of autonomous delivery.
The first makes us think like operators.
The second like academics.
The first like pragmatists.
The second like futurists.
The first means we have back up plans, support vehicles, redundancy measures. We make every delivery, we are reliable, and we do not let our customers down.
The second means we experiment, push the envelope, get creative. We push ourselves — and our customers — to ask tough questions about what autonomous delivery will mean for their business, and how we can help in the change.
Udelv provides support vehicles to supplement our autonomous delivery service, making sure our customers never miss a delivery.
So as you start asking questions about autonomous vehicles, uncertain how they may ever fit into the system you have spent decades building, know that introducing autonomous delivery can be a methodical process change that you can manage, not a disruptive revolution far off in the future.
At Udelv, we’re a delivery first company, leveraging autonomous driving to help our clients change their worlds.
If you’re interested in learning more about how an autonomous delivery service can work for your company, email sales@udelv.com.