Your Next Amazon Order May Not Arrive on a Truck!

Amazon is taking fast delivery to another level. The company says its Prime Air drone service will expand to nearly 500 cities and towns across the country by the end of this year, mainly reaching suburban communities. The drones can carry eligible packages weighing up to five pounds and deliver them in as little as 30 minutes.

Amazon says it has already delivered hundreds of thousands of packages by drone this year. The service will be free for Prime members spending at least $50. Prime members with smaller orders will pay $2.99, while nonmembers will pay $4.99.

The expansion puts Amazon in even closer competition with Walmart, but there are still concerns involving government regulations, safety, weather, privacy and noise. CEO Andy Jassy says the goal is to make the service available to communities representing around 30 million customers by the end of 2026 and eventually deliver 500 million packages by drone each year by the end of the decade. Cleveland is among the metro areas expected to receive the service soon.