Your Next Food Delivery in NJ Might Be From a Robot, Not a Person

When you order takeout, do you pick it up yourself? Or do you take the delivery option? I'll be honest, I usually only do take-out after I've had a few beers at home, so odds are, I'm doing the delivery option. Needless to say, I have a semi-decent relationship with my regular delivery guy.

But what if instead of a person dropping off your food, you opened the door to find a little robot that basically looked like a big cooler on 4 wheels? Because if you live in parts of Jersey City, that's what your new delivery "person" may look like.

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Self-Driving Delivery Robots Are Coming To New Jersey

According to NJ.com, a new autonomous delivery robot service, which was created in California, is getting ready to launch its robot delivery service in the Heights area of Jersey City in early 2026.

If you're not familiar with Coco, these little robots are actually kind of cool. They look like large pink coolers, on big wheels, that deliver food via apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash.

Won't Delivery Jobs Take Away Jobs From NJ Delivery Drivers?

Now, my first thought when something like this pops up in the headlines is "well, what about the human delivery drivers who need these jobs for either their main income, or for supplemental income?"  because trust me, I'd rather have Joe from Brick drop off my food than a robot.

🚗 KEEP READING FOR THE MOST DANGEROUS ROADS IN NEW JERSEY 🚗

However, when inclement weather strikes, such as snow or severe rain, it can be dangerous for people to have to make deliveries.

That's where I think something like Coco can come in handy. They're heavy-duty, weatherproof robots that use AI and human control to deliver food and other products.

Would Self-Driving Delivery Vehicles Ever Show Up At The Jersey Shore?

This may work well in places like Jersey City, New York, or California, but I'd say it may be a challenge for Coco to operate successfully at the Shore.

For starters, we don't always have sidewalks that these little robots could use to deliver food, and on top of that, our roads are tough on cars, let alone an all-terrain robot.

So, although I think this is a neat idea for metropolitan areas like Jersey City, I'm perfectly fine picking up my own food for now, or having Joe the delivery guy in Brick drop off my pizza.

I wonder if Coco could manage some of these insanely dangerous roads in NJ.