The Hardest Job in Logistics Is Going to Robots

Warehouse automation has always been easiest where a company can build the environment around the machines: standardized bins, fixed conveyor paths, predictable inputs. The harder problem sits at the edges of a logistics network, where a package has to move from a trailer to a sorting system, then to a delivery station, then into a specific vehicle, with no two shipments arriving the same size, shape or destination. Amazon, FedEx and DHL are now aiming their heaviest automation investment at exactly those handoffs.

Amazon’s fulfillment centers are already thick with robots. Its delivery stations, the last stop before a package reaches a driver, mostly are not. Workers there still sort parcels by hand, load them into bags and stage them for delivery, GeekWire reported. Amazon is reportedly developing an initiative internally called Project Tetromino aimed at closing that gap, an early-stage concept described in an internal planning document that projected package processing at roughly 2.5 times the rate of Amazon’s existing delivery-station design, according to Business Insider.

FedEx and DHL Are Already Running Robots at the Trailer

FedEx has moved past the concept stage. The company expanded its partnership with Dexterity, a physical artificial intelligence (AI) company, deploying dual-armed robots called Mech at its Hagerstown, Maryland hub to autonomously load trailers at production scale, the company said in a July 30 announcement. “This expanded collaboration with Dexterity reflects our commitment to advancing capabilities that improve how we operate today while helping prepare our network for the future,” said Kawal Preet, FedEx’s executive vice president of planning, engineering and transformation. FedEx is separately testing an autonomous trailer unloader called Scoop from Berkshire Grey, with the first systems expected in operation later this year, FreightWaves reported.

DHL has been running this exact playbook the longest. Its Stretch robots, built with Boston Dynamics, autonomously unload trailers and containers at rates up to 700 boxes an hour, and DHL signed a memorandum of understanding in 2025 to deploy more than 1,000 additional units globally, Boston Dynamics said last year. DHL has invested more than $1.1 billion in automation within its contract logistics division alone over three years, and more than 90% of its warehouses worldwide now run at least one automated solution. “Through our Accelerated Digitalization agenda, we are committed to maximizing the impact of robotics and automation across all our operations and business units,” said Sally Miller, DHL Supply Chain’s global chief information officer.

Faster Handoffs Mean More Volume

Amazon, FedEx and DHL are converging on the same category of problem: physical handoffs that have resisted automation longer than warehouse picking because inputs change constantly. If systems like Tetromino, Mech and Stretch work reliably at scale, a delivery station running 2.5 times faster can push more volume through the same footprint, and a trailer that unloads at 700 boxes an hour shortens how long a truck sits at a dock, freeing capacity across an entire route network.

That capacity argument helps explain why logistics companies are moving now, ahead of most of the broader economy. According to PYMNTS Intelligence’s “The Enterprise AI Payback Curve” report, 53% to 67% of large companies across various sectors remain in early AI exploration stage for supply chain functions.

According to the report, which is based on a June 2026 survey of 60 senior technology executives at companies with at least $1 billion in annual revenue, the companies that have scaled AI in this area are concentrated specifically in order fulfillment and returns optimization, exactly where Amazon, FedEx and DHL are investing their heaviest automation dollars right now.