Amazon Explores Autonomous Delivery Vehicles

Amazon has assembled a team of about a dozen employees to assess how the online retailer can use self-driving vehicles to speed customer deliveries and lower shipping costs, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The team’s work is part of a broader company initiative to assume greater control over product deliveries in the future, according to the report. The team formed more than a year ago.

Amazon’s future role in the development of an autonomous vehicle fleet is still unclear. However, the Wall Street Journal noted that the company recently posted a want ad for research scientists in the Amazon Robotics division to work on “future mobility and transportation systems.”

Also, earlier this year, Amazon won a patent for a network that assists self-driving vehicles in adjusting to changes in driving environments and traffic flow.

Amazon is headquartered in Seattle.