Vehicles: Common Features
Standardised Containers
As you may have noticed from recent deliveries of, for example, online purchases, many shipments are made inside cardboard boxes that are significantly larger than their contents – which then have to be wrapped tightly in plastic or padded to stop them moving around in transit. This demonstrates that the spatial volume of the goods being shipped is not a limiting factor at present. In fact, most delivery vans would be over their safe working weight if a substantial proportion of their total load space were tightly packed with solid goods.
Almost everything (with people being the main exception) is transported in a box of standard size. The whole Localnet delivery system is based around the premise that most of the content of most of the boxes at any given time will be empty space. It doesn’t cost much to transport air if your van is designed with that in mind.
People are also Payload
Localnet vehicles are designed to be flexible - so that their carrying capacity can be split between goods (in standardised containers) and people. The mix of goods to people will vary from delivery round to delivery round and even within one round. As packages are dropped off, so more people can be picked up and vice versa.
Fuel is also Payload
In most cases, vehicles are electric - so fuel is in the form of batteries. These too are carried in standard containers which may be carried in the main payload area of the vehicle. This lets us trade off range for load capacity on every journey. It also avoids the need for separate charging or battery replacements mechanisms as “refuelling” happens as part of the loading and unloading process. It also ensures that as battery technology improves, we do not have to replace whole vehicles to take advantage of it.
Security
Many of our existing delivery mechanisms are not very secure at all. Parcels can be taken from delivery vans while the driver is distracted for example. Corrupt staff can easily pilfer items from their own or other drivers' loads.
As all boxes within localnet incorporate an attachment mechanism, most will be firmly fixed to each other and/or the vehicle holding them until they are due to be delivered. This makes the system much more secure than most current modes of delivery.
Technology Evolves Rapidly.
A well constructed chassis will last many years. During this time we hope that engine, battery and regenerative breaking components will continue to evolve. The vehicle should be as modular as possible. In-wheel motors should be used to minimise the space taken up by these and the impact of changing them.