Orlando and Tampa get first crack at Walmart’s plan for drone delivery in Florida | Orlando Area News | Orlando

Diapers and hotdog buns will take to the sky when drones begin delivering Walmart orders to Florida doorsteps.

Today, Walmart announced that a first-of-its-kind partnership with DroneUp, a drone service company, will allow qualifying stores to deliver orders by drone in as little as 30 minutes.

For a delivery fee of $3.99, over 100,000 Walmart items can be delivered via drone. The company expects to make over 1 million deliveries via drone in a year, according to a press release.

Walmart says Florida is among one of six states where this service will be available by the end of the year, with Tampa and Orlando to see first action, according to Axios.

Drone orders must be placed between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. and weigh under 10 pounds.

After an order is placed, the item(s) will be packaged, loaded into a drone and delivered to the yard of the address that placed the order. Participating stores will host a team of certified pilots to fly the drones, insuring safe flight operations for deliveries. Which model of drones has not been specified.

Walmart believes that this method of delivery will be beneficial for its customers, saving them both time and money.

This story first appeared on our sister site, Creative Loafing Tampa.