While many of us still have fond memories of the local Post Office employee tooling around in a Jeep DJ mail truck, that hasn’t really been the case since the Grumman LLV (Long Life Vehicle) came into use about 1987. Intended to be a more modern take on a postal delivery vehicle, the Grumman was a kit-bash that utilized the majority of a 2.5L Iron Duke-equipped Chevy S-10 Blazer and a body that was shaped like a large doghouse to move mail around, and while it was certainly not glamorous, it’s done the job well, especially when you consider that the Post Office hasn’t bought a new LLV since 1994. That means that the newest official postal vehicle is old enough to drink, and it means that the repair and rehabilitation bills are stacking up for the little trucklets. So the Post Office has put out feelers in the form of a Request for Information, which is the first step towards selecting a replacement for the Grumman.
Automatically, most eyes will swing to such vehicles as Ford’s Transit Connect, Ram’s C/V Tradesman and ProMaster City, and Nissan’s unloved NV200. Without question, the vehicle will remain right-hand-drive and according to some early notes, fuel economy is priority, while the vehicle must be able to handle larger packages, must have such safety features as airbags and ABS, and it must have cupholders. Yes, that was actually on the ROI.
So what would you, the BangShifter, like to see tooling around delivering the mail? Surely you can do better than a little cube van…
I’m an EBay addict. When the USPS sells off vehicles their account is here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/usps-al-pmsc?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
Today is just one ugly semi trailer, but there is cool stuff there at times.
As for the question at hand they should contract Tesla. Electric is perfect for the application. Short trips. Overnight downtime at the base.
TESLA? HAHAHAHAHAHA…. OMG, let the government give them more money for cars that don’t exist? Might as well put money in Tucker!
Teslas are going 11s in the quarter. THAT SIR is hauling the mail in my book!
And with the stop-and-go use, an electric vehicle would make perfect sense for mail delivery – regenerative braking would do a lot better than friction. A van body on a 85D would be pretty funny if somewhat overkill.
Can we bring back the RHD International Scouts? Those things were sweet
This is one of those places where it doesn’t make a helluva lot of sense to change what they are using. Ever notice how the school bus of today looks almost exactly like the school bus of 50 or more years ago?
An electric might work, but one from a vendor who can actually deliver on the contract. A diesel electric serial hybrid might work too, but the startup / drive 50 feet, startup, drive 100 feet would be hell on the battery packs and controllers. It’d be great if it had all my bills in it when it catches fire.
Sprinter would probably be a good choice, tall enough for a walk through. I’m not sure the Transit is tall enough.
This is just another big government spend on something unnecessary. The Postal Service has become a big fat loser of money since the invent of email and electronic bill pay. I agree with an electric or CNG replacement for city and suburb deliveries; refurb old trucks for rural routes.
Growing up in NE GA in the 70’s and 80’s, our mailman used an old 6cyl Chevy Nova or Malibu 4dr where he would sit in the middle of the bench seat, drive with his left hand and foot and shove the mail in your mailbox stored in the back seat with his right. Lots of long scrapes on the RHS of the car from misjudging where the box was.
Pull the plug. Let e-mail and UPS handle the job. I don’t get any mail worth reading any more. I can read my magazines on a tablet. My bills are sent by e-mail and paid online.
There are still plenty of folks who use stamps and don’t have internet access… two of the places I’ve had recently don’t even have decent cell phone coverage.
From my E-Bay experience they tried Ford Windstars. The carnage in the units they had to auction was horrific. Transmissions and interior damage mostly.
True, but the Windstar was a piece of shit when it left the factory. Can’t completely fault the Post Office for selecting a turd.
keep the grumman LLV re power them with a 3 cylinder turbo diesel
What ever vehicle they choose, they should be using Natural Gas
Well, Canada Post has already made a huge swing towards the Ford Transit (for residential/commercial letter carriers), but I believe they also have some other brands for larger item routes…
And BTW: there are several larger sizes of the Transit available in other markets, not sure if they bring any other than the small one into N.A. market…..
Yeah, we get the bigger ones (the ones that look like a pug from the front on view) starting this year. Prolly not a bad choice, those Transits seem to be a pretty decent rig. We had one at our dealership as a parts runner and it never had an issue.
Canada Post has been using the smaller Transit Connect, which has been in North America since 2010 model year, and the new gen version came for 2013 model year. New ones are on the same platform as the Escape. We have one for our 2nd service shuttle at the dealership, it’s been pretty good so far, and drives decently.
Starting a few months ago, Ford now sells the full-size Transit van which is now being produced in North America. This is the replacement for the Econoline.
I think the priority should be…….Made in the U.S.A. with as much U.S. content as possible!
I just hope that no matter what–the new trucks need to be America born. NO over the pond junk. We can make our own Chevy-Ford _Jeep(I know-they belong to Italy) But hey-They need to made in the U.S.A. for the USPS,by U.S. workers. Natural Gas-Electric-, or pedal powered-I don’t care
I thought the post office was barely surviving yet they got 18 mill for new trucks S.M.H.