Sure, Laugh Away. But Every Big Vehicle Should Look Like This New USPS Truck

https://www.curbed.com/amp/2021/02/usps-new-truck-design-safety.html

The current USPS trucks were made by Grumman (makers of Navy F-14's, A-6's, E-2's, and C-2's). Grumman is also one of several suppliers of vans to UPS. The newest Grumman USPS trucks on the road now were made in 1994. Getting 27+ years out of a vehicle is a pretty good run. They're plagued by electrical problems, and are 27+ year old aircraft.

As USPS is getting better at delivering packages (even subcontracting to deliver UPS packages to residential customers), they need bigger delivery trucks. The Grumman truck was bigger than the Jeep it replaced. Vehicles always seem to get bigger with each new generation. Communal mail boxes in most new subdivisions now make mail carriers more productive. So, they need to carry more mail when they leave the post office.

Those Oshkosh vans will end up costing about $37k each, way more expensive than the stop-gap Mercedes-Benz Metris and Ram ProMaster vans USPS is now buying. I wonder what one of those windshields cost.

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It is amazing how much mileage (pun semi intended) they got out of those old grummans. They are based on an old S10 chassis with GM Iron Duke engines. IIRC they have far outlived their expected lifespan.

The new ones are ugly, but look incredibly useful. If there is a better use of a fleet electric vehicle (aside from city taxi), I can't think of it.

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Here's why the new one looks so weird.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/here-s-why-the-new-usps-mail-trucks-look-so-weird/ar-BB1dYQsg?ocid=msedgntp

Actually, delivery vans are a better application of electric vehicles than taxi cabs, since much of the cab fleet operates 24 hours/day. A slow charge is better for the batteries.

Here's a video of the Mercedes-Benz Metris USPS vans. They need 91 AKI (premium) gasoline. Actually, that's common with turbocharged vehicles these days. A Chevy Equinox also needs 91 AKI.

https://youtu.be/X7DOQTYeuK4?t=92

My BMW's need 91 AKI, but they only sell 93 AKI in Bubba County, Floriduh. So, I make my own 91 AKI by blending 2/3's 93 AKI and 1/3 87 AKI. That saves me $3 to $4 per tank, about $900 over 100k miles.

I was thinking that you wouldn't want to take a rock to that winshield - big or small.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I'm sure there would be large obstacles to making it happen but for taxis one thinks that a vehicle with easily removed and installed battery packs would be a useful feature. Could charge them real slow and have near 24 hour service available.

Edited to add: search reveals that China is doing that but looks unlikely to land on these shores. Makes sense:

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a33670482/nio-swappable-batteries-lease/

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Interesting .

I remember the three wheeled "Westcoaster" mail delivery rigs in the 1960's cheap and small, they worked O.K. I guess .

A few years back I chanced upon a 1961 Ford station wagon in U.S.P.S. livery, it has been bought at auction and then left to sit, all original, another interesting vehicle .

The U.S.P.S. gave a bunch of DJ5's to the L.A.P.D., they were on vgc but no one liked them in spite of their perfect use as in city runabouts for misc. crap .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

We had little electric trucks and vans for putting around the naval base I worked on. They were converted trucks made in China. The vans had solar panels on the roof to help charge them. They didn't have AC, and it's hot as Hell here in Floriduh. So, we parked the solar panel equipped vans hugging the north side of the building... so they'd be in the shade... and stay relatively cool inside.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/attachments/off-topic-discussion-politics-religion/151499d1552013155-why-renewables-can%92t-save-planet-vantage-electric-truck.jpg

https://www.vantagevehicle.com/

When they told us were were getting a Vantage for our building at work, I said "*** that, let's get a DB9 instead."

I wish those to be the standard on rural routes. At letter carriers request in the last twenty years I have changed the height of my mailbox twice, once lowering it and in the last two years raising it.

What, the AMC Pacer lives.

I keep looking for details on the engine, and can find none.
I realize that to some extent, the USPS doesnt care. But the LLV had the basic GM 4cyl of the time. What is the equivalent right now ?

a) the turbodiesel out of the Cruze/Equinox...that just got cancelled

b) GM's LS V8 ("we'll start by LS-swapping the mail trucks..." )

c) Ford Ecoboost 6cyl ? (if its good enough for Explorers and 1-ton Transits, its good enough for anything...)

d) GM's Ecoboost 4 cyl (not sure those are still being made either...

e) Ford/Navistar V8 Diesel - (hundreds of school busses cant be wrong...)

f) ?

has anything been published about this yet ?

-John

__________________
2009 Kia Sedona
2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L
12006 Jetta Pumpe Duse
(insert Mercedes here)

Husband, Father, sometimes friend =)

I saw an article that Oshkosh was partnering with Ford on this project at one time. I can't even find anything saying if the NGDV is FWD or RWD.

"Oshkosh’s design is not completely finalized, USPS said."

"The USPS and Oshkosh don’t say exactly how many of the trucks will be gas-powered and how many will be electric, just that the plan is to make both and that the vehicles will be designed in a way so that the powertrains can be switched to electric over time. The USPS says the gas engines will be “fuel efficient low-emission” but did not specify what it means by those terms. "