The USPS has extensive experience in using robotics for sorting and moving mail and packages within its facilities, an IG report has said, but “the use of robots in delivery is too economically and technologically immature to be scalable in the short term.”
“To date, the Postal Service has not run any delivery by robot pilots, but it has been tracking the development of the technology,” it said, and there is potential for applications including “accompanied delivery,” where robots transporting mail and packages would follow carriers to help them complete their job faster with less physical effort, and independent delivery, where robots would deliver packages to recipients directly and on their own, without a carrier traveling with them.
However, it said there are many unknowns, including: the amount of savings on labor; the need to retrain employees to work with robotics; and the “sparse” state of law and regulations regarding mobile robotics in public areas.
