Together In Motion Indiana Contactless Delivery Service Has Launched in Central Indiana

April 1, 2022

The Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) and Energy Systems Network (ESN) have joined with Udelv, a leader in multi-stop last- and mid-mile delivery vehicles, to provide services to two non-profit organizations in central Indiana under TMF’s Together in Motion initiative.  The delivery vehicle was launched in Indianapolis on November 5^th, 2021 and has enabled HATCH for Hunger and Southeast Community Services to provide essential goods to community members and food pantry partners.  The rising necessity of contactless delivery throughout the coronavirus pandemic led TMF to explore implementation of advanced goods delivery methodologies. The service will end at the beginning of May 2022.

Udelv has equipped a Toyota Sienna with their innovative Delivery Management System (DMS) – comprised of a smart cargo container (uPod) and a cloud-based communication architecture.  Customers are alerted through a notification from Udelv’s app that the vehicle is on the way to their home. Once the vehicle arrives at the customer’s location, customers simply open a specific compartment within the uPod via their mobile phone to retrieve their order themselves.  No assistance from the vehicle’s driver is necessary, ensuring the delivery is contactless, safe, and secure.  

“The partnership between TMF and Southeast Community Services has been transformational for members of our community who are unable to visit our weekly food pantry,” Peggy Frame, Southeast Community Service’s executive director, said. “With the extra delivery capacity provided by the Toyota Sienna equipped with Udelv’s technology, we have been able to triple the number of weekly deliveries into the community. The peace of mind this food security gives our neighbors is immeasurable.”

”Udelv is very proud and grateful to the Toyota Mobility Foundation to be part of this essential community service,” says Daniel Laury, Udelv CEO. “It is inspiring to see our contactless customer experience contribute to the improvement of people’s lives. Serving HATCH and Southeast Community Services through TMF is at the heart of what we believe as a company and where our core values lie.  Our engineers have worked hard to develop an easy-to-use mobile app that simplifies deliveries, and this customer interaction is being widely accepted by users who walk to the vehicle to retrieve their goods.”

The vehicle delivers a weekly distribution of groceries and home goods from Southeast Community Services to nearby neighbors residing within southeast Indianapolis.  Likewise, HATCH for Hunger distributes fresh protein in the form of eggs to food pantries in central Indiana.  The uPod-equipped Sienna has enabled HATCH to increase the number of eggs per month to local food banks – totaling up to an additional 6,000 meals per month.  Through their participation in this deployment, both organizations are providing valuable insight and learnings for the future of contactless delivery services.

“This partnership made real the opportunity for HATCH to increase access to better nutrition and protein sources for hunger relief organizations in our local community. Because of this partnership, HATCH will have delivered an additional 1,125 dozen eggs per month providing nearly 40,500 meals to food insecure children and adults in Indianapolis over the course of the 6-month program” said Daniel Leckie Executive Director, HATCH For Hunger.

Established in 2020, Together in Motion Indiana aims to foster innovation through industry partnerships and propel research and development in advanced mobility technologies, Together in Motion Indiana supports the deployments of various mobility solutions that are developed with local community input. With this human-centered approach, the initiative aims to better serve the transportation needs of the local communities, to understand the changing ecosystems surrounding these needs, to potentially expand such initiatives into other communities, and to establish networks for the sharing and leveraging of key learnings. The initiative also includes an autonomous vehicle deployment in Fishers, IN.

“While implementing advanced mobility technology is exciting, seeing that technology make measurable, positive impact on the community is even more meaningful,” shares Ryan Klem, Director of Programs at the Toyota Mobility Foundation. “Southeast Community Services and HATCH for Hunger do so much for their neighbors and partners, and we thank them for testing and evaluating a new technology through Udelv so that we can learn how to best serve those around us.”

About Southeast Community Services

Southeast Community Services (SECS) has proudly served the southeast side of Indianapolis since 1972. Since our founding 50 years ago, we have been committed to addressing the diverse needs of our residents, from youth to seniors. Our goal is to help our neighbors lead dignified, fulfilling, and self-sufficient lives through the promotion of financial stability. At SECS, we believe that everyone is “naturally creative, resourceful, and whole” and that belief shapes the way we interact with our neighbors. As a Center for Working Families, SECS provides bundled services to help support our neighbors in multiple areas while they work to make a change in their lives. Our coaches work together to form a network of support around neighbors working with us – these additional services include connecting them with our on-site food pantry, helping to identify and apply for other resources like SNAP, TANF, energy assistance, job training opportunities, understanding their credit score, and more. Our services help our neighbors break away from living paycheck to paycheck by connecting them to the resources they need to break the cycle of poverty.

About HATCH for Hunger

HATCH began in 2015 with the idea of connecting farmers and food banks, not just on a local level, but a national one. Bringing together the power of those who supply healthy foods to our nation's grocery store shelves to the shelves of food pantries and food giving organizations in a sustainable way - one where helping people doesn't hurt businesses. We believe charity is important, but it's not the only answer. If we can build reliable sources of healthy food at a lower cost for the organizations that are on the front lines of hunger and poverty in their local communities, then we can change the nutrition access of our most vulnerable community members and help them lead better lives. Because we believe everyone deserves eggs. Since 2015, HATCH has delivered 4,300,000 dozen eggs to hunger relief organizations. Directly impacting 16 food banks and 1,500+ food pantries across 10 states.  Using the measure of (2) eggs equate to one meal HATCH has delivered an estimated 25,000,000 meals to hunger relief organizations over this time.

About Udelv

Udelv is revolutionizing the multi-stop last- and mid-mile delivery industry with the Transporter, the world’s first cab-less autonomous EV traveling at highway speeds on public roads. Udelv is trailblazing the use of AI to advance the safe, sustainable movement of goods, and to liberate people from delivery inconveniences, establishing a new level of customer preference and delight. Founded in 2017 by Daniel Laury and Akshat Patel, veterans of Silicon Valley startups and market leaders Tesla, Apple and Caterpillar, Udelv has delivered more than 20,000 packages including groceries, parcels and auto parts for multiple merchants such as Walmart and XL Parts amongst others. Unveiled at CES 2022 following years of delivery experience and customer feedback, the Transporter solves for the worldwide shortage of drivers and the sustainability of commercial fleets. It uniquely combines Udelv’s patented smart cargo container, the uPod, level 4 autonomous functionality from Intel Mobileye, Transporter Command Center, fleet management software, and a mobile experience that facilitates the loading of goods and retrieving of products in a contactless and secure manner. To learn more, visit www.udelv.com.

About Toyota Mobility Foundation

The Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) was established in August 2014 by the Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) to support the development of a more mobile society in which everyone can move freely. The Foundation underscores TMC’s on-going commitment to continuous improvement and respect for people. It utilizes Toyota’s expertise and technologies to support strong mobility systems while eliminating disparities in mobility. TMF works in partnership with universities, governments, non-profits, research institutions and other organizations, creating programs aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address mobility issues around the world.

About Energy Systems Network (ESN)

ESN is an Indianapolis-based nonprofit initiative focused on the development of the advanced energy technology and transportation sectors. Over the last decade, ESN has collaborated with a range of industry, academia, and government partners to deliver sustainable energy and mobility solutions, including electric car sharing, vehicle-to-smart grid communications, mobility-as-a-service, and others. ESN’s mission is to leverage its network of global thought leaders to develop integrated energy solutions to increase quality of life for today and tomorrow. The company’s focus is to: reduce costs, emissions and waste; influence policy; and advance technological innovation. For more information, visit www.energysystemsnetwork.com.

HATCH for Hunger: Daniel Leckie, dleckie@hatchforhunger.com

Southeast Community Services: Peggy Frame, PeggyF@southeastindy.org

Udelv: Colleen Robar, 313-207-5960, crobar@robarpr.com

Toyota Mobility Foundation: Julie Ann Burandt, info@toyota-mf.org

Energy Systems Network: Drew Tharp, drew@energysystemsnetwork.com