No Trucks, No Problem! How Amazon Delivers on Mackinac Island

Truth be told, we live in an Amazon world. With the click of a button, anything and everything we need arrives right at our doorstep in that notable "smiling" brown box. The ease is bliss and the at times addictive, but you can't help but love the sight of that delivery truck making its way to you.

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So what happens when the trucks are "no go", but the packages still need delivering? Well, you rely on "horsepower" of course, and not the kind you find in an engine, but the kind you find on four legs.

One of the most popular tourist destinations in Michigan, Mackinac Island attracts as many as 15,000 visitors per day during its peak summer season. Mackinac Island has the unique distinction of being an island without any cars. Visitors rely on walking, horse-drawn carriages, and bicycles to get around which seems to be a great draw.

The island banned motorized vehicles in the early 1900s, leaving only one ambulance, police car, and firetruck on the island for emergencies. Keeping with the standards, those indulging in the online shopping alternative receive their package not from a truck but from a horse-drawn carriage.

A new viral video on Tik Tok has once again highlighted the cool delivery system that has become the norm for the island's 500+ year-round residents and those who work on the island during the peak summer months. Viewed over 1.2 million times, Tik Toker @geofflovesall shows the charm of those horse-powered delivery wagons stacked with Amazon boxes and more.

The video isn't the first time Mackinac Island's delivery system has been highlighted. We told you that Amazon itself featured the island in one of its holiday features about Christmas deliveries in 2021.

It's estimated that during the holiday season, there are more than 600 packages a day loaded onto a ferry bound for Mackinac Island during the holiday season. During the summer months, the island gets about 100 to 250 packages a day.

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