When we think of golf carts in Dunedin, we often think of the recreational benefits where families and friends enjoy weekend fun locally using their golf carts instead of their cars. There are additional business benefits to Dunedin’s golf cart friendliness that quietly go unnoticed.
After snapping this picture, which was taken in the Dunedin Pines section of town not far from OLL Church, Dunedin Goes Carting reached out to UPS to learn more. Lillian Cosanti, a logistics manager for UPS, explained that their company often leverages the use of Golf Carts during periods of high seasonal activity.
UPS will contract to have PODS™ Storage Units loaded then dropped off to authorized neighborhood locations. UPS then hires part-time help who use a preset code to open the PODS™ and extract the deliveries for neighborhood-level distribution via golf cart. Cosanti says this highly efficient method has a number of benefits both to the company and to local residents in what she described as “the final mile”.
Cosanti explained that instead of having one or two large box trucks stroll through several miles of surface streets to make deliveries, several cart-based deliveries can cover the area in a radial pattern much more efficiently and with a much lower impact to residents. The newer electric carts, with a 12 – 15 mile range at low speed, mean neither UPS nor the locally employed part-time help spend money on gas. Daily charging costs less than 60 cents. Plus, a few locally-hired part time delivery cart drivers have the opportunity make a little extra cash. Everybody wins.
Dunedin Goes Carting was told that UPS tries to leverage this benefit where ever they find golf-cart friendly municipalities, and Dunedin ranks prominently on their list.