With a near monopoly on delivery, Amazon is understandably keen to make the job easier. The latest idea that may or may not eventually see the light of day is a new patent for a system where delivery vans would carry items almost to their destination, then send out and direct ground drones to do the final drop-off.

Amazon and other companies like UPS are already experimenting with drones that fly or drive to deliver everything from packages to pizza to medicine. But the humble delivery van doesn't need to worry about being rendered redundant just yet – it turns out that drones are terribly inefficient on their own.

So in the new patent, Amazon describes how it would pair them with delivery vans to make both more efficient. First, a "primary vehicle" (read a van, truck, car etc) would be loaded up with items to be delivered, as well as secondary vehicles – either flying drones, small ground vehicles, or both. The idea is that the van would drive to the destination, park in the street, then send the smaller vehicle to drop the parcel at the doorstep or wherever it needs to go.