A delivery van is a tiny warehouse on wheels. Away from the conveyor belts and simple machines of a warehouse, humans, usually two of them, do all the rudimentary tasks of delivery: driving, finding the packages in the back, and placing packages on doorsteps. Mercedes-Benz, in collaboration with drone delivery company Matternet, created a concept Vision Van that replaces this routine with an automated system, and adds two drones on top for speedy delivery.

Mercedes-Benz and Matternet are hardly the first to explore this concept, and unlike warehouse-to-drone-to-customer delivery, warehouse-to-van-to-drone-to-customer delivery accommodates the inherent limitations of small, electric flying machines (namely, limited power and short flight times). If drone delivery takes off, it will likely be from the backs of vans.