After their Twitter/X account essentially went the way of the grilled chicken sandwich and disappeared, Wendy’s has been on the hunt for publicity. With a few new offerings under their belt, the chain simply hasn’t been drawing the crowds it once did as prices surge. Now working with food delivery company DoorDash, they have partnered with Alphabet’s Wing drone delivery company to deliver food.
Starting out as a test in Christiansburg, Virginia, the company will replace gig workers delivering the food in their cars with drones. Specifically working with just the 2355 N. Franklin Street in Christiansburg store, the plan is to cover nearly every address within a 2.5-mile radius with the drones.
Mind you, there are some stipulations.
Customers must have a clearing of two meters in diameter for the drone to land safely. Patios and driveways are some of the more commonly chosen locations. It also needs to clear of obstructions that branches, powerlines, or trees could present. With these drones capable of flight at up to 65 MPH, deliveries could be completed within 10 to 30 minutes. For those familiar with DoorDash and other delivery services, that is incredibly fast by comparison.
For those ordering the bigger menu items or with large orders, up to three drones can be dispatched on a single order. Should it still be too much, a human will run the order. To no surprise, there are limitations on the hours for the “drone dasher.” One of the unique features of these drones is that they will lower the order from the drone instead of landing the drone.
DoorDash and Wing have been sending out orders by drone in Australia since 2022, and the company now has over 60 different companies using their delivery services. Operating from three locations there, the merchants still bring the orders to their hubs for transport. Here in the US, Walgreens and Walmart have also inked deals with Wing, a sign that this could become the norm much sooner than previously thought.