Drone deliveries to serve Duxbury homes along closed road for eclipse

April 1, 2024 | By Skye S. Fallon | Special correspondent 

Duxbury residents on Camel’s Hump Road will get a chance to be part of an Amazon.com beta test next week for the total solar eclipse. The online retail giant announced today that it will run a trial of its new drone delivery service in Vermont on Sunday and Monday, April 7-8 – with a twist. 

The total solar eclipse is happening on Monday, April 8. Camel’s Hump Road in Duxbury will be closed to all but local traffic. Amazon will provide drone deliveries of takeout pub food and pizza along with books and games so residents don’t have to venture out. File photo by Gordon Miller

The test crew will partner with several Waterbury businesses and will use Dac Rowe Park as a base on Sunday and Monday. Duxbury residents along Camel’s Hump Road and its side streets will be able to call a special hotline to place take-out food orders from The Reservoir and Zachary’s Pizza as well as Bridgeside Books for books, puzzles and games. 

The Amazon team will deploy its new MK30 drones using GPS coordinates to drop the orders in driveways past the “road closed” signs, circumventing the need for delivery drivers to brave the muddy ruts. According to the National Weather Service in Burlington, the extended forecast for April 8, the day of the eclipse, is looking clear but there’s more snow headed to Vermont midweek. The combination of new snowfall followed by mild temperatures and sunshine could create yet another round of muddy road conditions by the weekend, forecasters predict.

The Duxbury experiment will be one of three operations where the company is sending research and development teams to Vermont next weekend leading up to and during the eclipse to test its drone fleet’s ability to deliver to hard-to-reach areas. In addition to the remote Duxbury neighborhoods near Camel’s Hump, Amazon R&D staffers will set up similar delivery operations to residential areas on class 4 roads in the Northeast Kingdom and in the far reaches of the Champlain Islands, according to a company press release.

The expected surge of visitors to Vermont for the eclipse and resulting traffic congestion will make ground travel challenging for everyone including commercial deliveries such as UPS and FedEx.

Add Vermont mud season conditions on many of the state’s backroads and increasing pressure on Amazon from the Federal Trade Commission to make on-time deliveries – and that’s where the drones come in.  

Amazon’s new MK30 drones are fast, quiet and can fly in light rain or snow. Courtesy photo

“We love a challenge. In fact, this program is designed to tackle a wide range of obstacles to get orders to customers as quickly as possible,” said company spokeswoman Bea N. Thyme. “We are having success with drone delivery in densely populated suburban markets, so we figured it’s time to give it a go in the mountains and along the backroads of Vermont.”

Choosing three downtown businesses to provide the takeout menu items, books and games was key, said or Luke Uppenskye, operations manager for the Duxbury trial. “We will have team members on bicycles outfitted with thermal containers to shuttle the orders from the restaurants to the drone launchpad at the park.” Uppenskye said. “We can’t rely on vehicles getting through traffic.” 

Amazon will supply the restaurants and bookstores with scales to weigh the orders as they package them. Drone deliveries cannot exceed five pounds.

“Think side orders of mac and cheese and we’ll throw in popcorn as filler,” Reservoir owner Mark Frier said. 

Waterbury Recreation Director Katarina Lisaius said she will be sure the Amazon team has eclipse-viewing glasses to pack into each delivery. Customers will be asked how many people are at their homes when they place their orders. “They’re light and important – safety first!” Lisaius said. 

Duxbury town officials said they welcome the experiment. “We wish they showed up a month ago when people were literally stuck at the end of their driveways,” Selectboard Chair Richard Charland said. “If this works, we still have some ARPA money left. Maybe we’ll invest in a drone or two of our own!” 

The irony of Amazon’s call to partner for the Duxbury trial was not lost on independent bookstore owner Katya d’Angelo. “Yeah, they almost had us buying this crazy idea,” she said, shaking her head. “Waterbury Roundabout’s April Fool’s reporting does it again.” 

Skye S. Fallon is a fictional April Fool’s correspondent for Waterbury Roundabout.