🌧📦 Cloudy With a Chance of Amazon Drones
Happy Hump Day!
This week we saw many headlines including: Walmart offering $110k salaries to lure truck drivers, Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed on the Supreme Court, the Russian ruble made a comeback, Scottie Scheffler torched The Masters, and Google banned apps with hidden data-harvesting software.
Welcome back and let’s make it over another Hump together!
- Humphrey & Rickie
In the Markets
Featured Story
Jeff Bezos first announced 30-minute drone deliveries back in 2013 and nearly 10 years later, he has very little to show for it other than a 25 acre brush fire that had to be put out by the local fire department. Bloomberg reported many obstacles that Amazon cited were hampering their efforts to get their drone program up and running including high employee turnover and safety risks.
There were five crashes over the course of a four month including a crash in May after a drone lost its propeller, but Amazon cleaned up the wreckage before the Federal Aviation Administration could investigate. In June, a drone’s motor shut off as two of its safety features both failed leading to the drone falling 160 feet from the air leading to a brush fire that stretched 25 acres which was ultimately put out by the local fire department.
A major concern of former and current employees of the drone program is that Amazon is prioritizing the rushed rollout of their drones over safety. David Johnson, a former drone flight assistant for Amazon was quoted saying:
“They give people multiple things to do in a very narrow window of time to try to boost their numbers, and people cut corners. They were more concerned about pumping flights out and didn’t want to slow down.”
Amazon denied Johnson’s claims citing that safety was their top priority.
Amazon has been talking about 30-minute drone deliveries for almost 10 years now and they still have a long way to go before they make that a reality. It’s time for less talk, and more show if they really want to bring this to life. Let’s hope though, for everyone’s sake, that they can do it without the safety concerns. Imagine calling in late to work because you got hit by a drone that fell from the sky.
Weekly News Roundup
Musk Backing Off Twitter Board, Opens Door to Hostile Takeover (CNBC)
Elon Musk’s decision not to join Twitter’s board means he is no longer limited to owning just 14.9% of the company. A decision that Wall St. analysts think open the door for Musk to bolster his stake and eventually try and establish control of Twitter.
HY: He wasn’t on the board very long! Having Elon as an owner is still bullish to Twitter stock, and I am sure he’ll be able to make more changes or at least influence more changes than what we’ve seen in the past. I think the main concern is keeping “Free Speech” alive while still ensuring it’s a safe platform to be on.
RH: So is the edit button coming? 🥺
Inflation Surged 8.5% in March (CNBC)
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the cost of a group of everyday items, surged 8.5% on the year in March, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Tuesday. The report showed the hottest inflation since December 1981 and puts a ton of pressure on families to cut back on spending and on the Fed to get inflation under control.
HY: I did read that CPI was high, but I also learned that shipping costs cross-country are cheaper (15% less), apartment units are increasing this year across the country, and oil sits at around $100 a barrel. A lot of the month over month numbers were better than the overall headline.
Amazon is Still Struggling to Make Drone Deliveries Work (The Verge)
Amazon is having a hard time getting its drone program off the ground citing high employee turnover. Additionally, there were five crashes over the course of a four-month period at the company’s testing site in Oregon. The program is facing issues such as propellors breaking while in flight and motors shutting off leading to crashes and a brush fire that stretched across 25 acres.
HY: This story is interesting, is there a big difference from 30 minute to same-day delivery? To me, not really. I know that we all want our items ASAP, but perhaps the net gain from 30 minute deliveries just isn’t worth the resources at the moment. That’s the only reason I think it’s been 9+ years and not much progress has been made.