Drone service takes flight in Loganville

Loganville Walmart now delivering by air to some locations in city

Wing Drone delivery service now available from Walmart in Loganville. Contributed service

Loganville recently became one of a half-dozen Georgia cities in which Walmart is offering drone delivery, and at their Dec. 11 meeting, the Loganville City Council got a tutorial from a representative of the aviation company providing the service for Walmart. Catherine Lovett, manager of local policy and community affairs for Wing Aviation, which made its first drone deliveries in 2014 and is part of the same company that operates Google, told the council that Loganville is one of 100 communities across the United States where Wing is partnering with Walmart on drone delivery.

The other Georgia cities where Wing is currently operating with Walmart are Conyers, Dallas, Hiram, McDonough and Woodstock, Lovett told the council and a crowd of dozens of citizens who had come to the meeting, largely to see a new mayor and three councilmembers sworn in for terms beginning Jan. 1.

Wing drone service started at the Loganville Walmart, at 4221 Atlanta Highway, in early December. There are currently 12 drones operating out of a special “pen” outside the store, flown by people who hold a Federal Aviation Administration Remote Pilot Certificate, Lovett explained.

Currently, the only way to order drone delivery is through the Wing app, available digitally through the
AppStore. But the expectation is that Walmart will at some point have its own app for drone delivery, Lovett explained.

Delivery via Wing is free, since it contracts its services directly to Walmart, but it’s likely that a Walmart drone app will include a charge for delivery, according to Lovett. Currently, deliveries can only be made during daylight hours, within a four-mile range of the store, and are limited to 2.3 pounds, Lovett told Mayor Skip Baliles and the city council.

At present, drone deliveries from the Walmart in Loganville primarily involve over-the-counter medications from the Walmart pharmacy, and fresh fruit from the store’s grocery, according to
Lovett. An average delivery time runs between five and 10 minutes from the time an order is placed
through the Wing app, she added.

Further describing the drone delivery process, Lovett explained that orders are placed in a special package and tethered to a drone. Once the drone arrives at its destination, it drops to 25 feet and unwinds the pack- age to the ground. The property to which a drone is directed must have sufficient clear space, without trees or other obstructions, to accommodate delivery service, Lovett said.

Drones fly no higher than 400 feet, and will routinely be at about 100 to 150 feet before dropping down to make a delivery, Lovett added.

In terms of noise, a drone operating at the 25-foot level will be rated at around 65 decibels, the noise level of routine conversation. At their cruising altitude, drones will produce about 56.5 decibels, Lovett said.

Addressing another potential community concern, Lovett told the mayor and council that the delivery drones have no surveillance capabilities, either by audio or video. The drones are equipped with lenses, but they are used only to provide the remote pilots with depth perception for deliveries, she said.

Anyone who would like to learn more about the drone deliveries is welcome to stop by the “pen” outside the Walmart to see them in action and to talk to thepeople flying and otherwise working with the drones, Lovett told the mayor and council.

On a related note, Lovett told the mayor and council that Wing looks forward to engaging with the community in a variety of ways as it is established in Loganville.

“We’re very excited to become a community partner here in Loganville,” she said.