I bet there are some postal routes out in the middle of the country that are 100s of miles daily ,
Then others around here that are less than 5 miles a day , park and walk , then drive to next section.
There is not one truck that's right for the whole country.
John Welsh said:In reply to The0retical :
RHD is required by the contract. The USPS is currently buying LHD ProMasters as "fill-in" vehicles until the contract is decided. It just seems to me that these "fill-in" buys could easily be RHD now since they are sold in that manner elsewhere in the world.
My mistake. Read your post incorrectly.
For the rest: Here's the RFI and design parameter webpage for the contract.
NGDV spec part 1 and part 2 lay out the requirements.
My favorite so far is Section: 3.15.9 the spec for cup holders
Turning circle is defined as 44ft (12.3 meters) Section 3.4.6
Section 3.7.5 in part 1 defines the bumper specifications. Basically it calls for a 5 mph bumper (front and rear) as well as a 4mph @ 30 degrees that extends beyond all other protrusions on the vehicle. The interesting bit is:
The front and rear bumpers, including their support braces and attaching hardware, shall be designed and reinforced to withstand an accidental cornering impact of the bumper end with an immovable barrier without causing permanent deformation to the bumper to the chassis, body frame members, or body paneling. For the purpose of this requirement, an accidental impact is defined as an impact of a fully loaded vehicle striking an immovable barrier at a speed of 6.4 km/h (4mph) at 30 degrees to the vehicle center-line.
That pretty much explains the goofy bumpers.
For a long time now, the Park and Walk carriers have been using minivans with a cage in the back. These are very common on GovDeals. Here is a sample. 2006 Caravan w/ 52k miles. So, 52k miles in 13 yrs = 4k miles per year or 76 miles per week. In a 6 day week, just over 12 miles per day. I guess drive 6 miles from the office. Walk all day, drive 6 miles back. That's probably pretty common.
My route driver has his own voyager he has driven for at least the last seven years. All of the rural guys use jeeps or caravans. City seems to have a mix of the old trucks and caravan c/v / promasters.
The current ProMaster gets my vote..
I am a bit surprised they are allowed to just pick one. I have a friend who used to work for the National Parks. Their pickup trucks had to represent ALL the major manufacturers, in the same park!
californiamilleghia said:I bet there are some postal routes out in the middle of the country that are 100s of miles daily ,
Then others around here that are less than 5 miles a day , park and walk , then drive to next section.
There is not one truck that's right for the whole country.
There are varied policies on this. Some cities don't have USPS delivery to the door at all, everyone must pickup their mail at the Post Office. This was done to build a sense of community by forcing residents to interact like in Carmel-by-the-Sea..........but in other places citizens go to the Post Office because USPS has determined it's not feasible to run routes in places like Jackson Hole, WY, because the frequent snows.
And in some parts I think they are done by contractors in their own vehicles.
I've been on some roads where most of the pictured options, ProMaster Ram included, would be too big for both a Postal Carrier and another vehicle to fit - cases where oncoming traffic needs to pass.
As such, the AM General seems to be the only one of the group that's small. It gets my vote.
The VT and Mahindra have some dope wheels, but they are too big. As is the Transit based option. The KMO looks futuristic, but also large.
My bet: It ain't gonna look like a Mahindra.
1. Every one of these looks straight out of doctor Seuss.
2. I'm a garbage man, and mail carriers are my mortal enemy. Out on my rural route, we're always in one another's way. They usually can move along faster, though. They may stop at every mailbox, and I don't. But I stay still longer than they do.
We wave at each other when we pass, but I know they're cussing me the same as I'm cussing them.
All I see is: 
The promasters are garbage. Transmissions are trash, they are poorly built, Dodge is a complete mess when it comes to ordering, they are loud, the interior was outdated when it was released.
My vote is the Morgan Olson, but that's a sister company so I might be biased.
What about Ford Transit with awd..?
I find myself not caring at all what the new vehicles look like.
However, I am a bit torn on what does matter to me. The sound! The current letter carrier mobiles have the WORST sound. Wheezy and course with that lazy extended rpm dip between shifts of the auto trans. I can hear the belt driven, non clutched fan in the mix too. It's a terrible noise , not loud but, it is so distinctive that you just know when one is driving by. Heck it will wake me up from a Saturday afternoon nap if I am expecting a package.
Of the letter carriers in this town the ones on foot with the little 3 wheel cart are friendly and smile a lot. The ones in the vanlet are less happy. I hope the new rigs are better places to be for them.
These seem like huge vehicles that are way too big to maneuver around lots of street parked cars. My mailman with the old Grumman whips around them like a pro.
Locally I have also seen a few USPS Mercedes Metris of all things. Have not looked close enough to see if they are even rhd, or seen them on regular mail delivery duty.
lnlogaugeMy vote is the Morgan Olson, but that's a sister company so I might be biased.
I don't know, that looks like a swat van and an armored truck had a one nighter behind a dive bar.
Im not entirely sure why our mail must be delivered by the butt ugliest vehicle known to man, i mean the LLV isnt a looker either but these are all downright ass ugly
If they're all as enormous as they look, I can only assume the Department of Defense ran out of surplus MRAPs to give away.
Antihero said:Im not entirely sure why our mail must be delivered by the butt ugliest vehicle known to man, i mean the LLV isnt a looker either but these are all downright ass ugly
Form follows function. Reading the RFI there's a lot of very specific functions laid out these are expected to fulfill for a long time. Given the requirements, and cost of materials available, I'm amazed they look that good.
I remember when they phased out the old postal Jeeps and everyone went crazy because they could get them cheap and they were easy to convert to 4WD. Cut the roof off and you had a relatively cheap and capable trail rig.
So now I'm wondering if they'll unleash the Grummans on the public and how long until the challenge class is established.
I want on of these !
In reply to Jumper K Balls (Trent) :
Agreed about the sound. I'm too young to remember the switch from the DJs to the LLV, so the LLV is all I have known as a mail delivery vehicle. It has such a distinctive sound. You can recognize the sound from a mile away (sometimes literally depending on the condition of the muffler). How will I know my poorly thought out eBay impulse purchase has been delivered if the LLV replacement is a BEV or hybrid?
Resident postal worker here chiming in. I've been with USPS for about 2.5 years. First two years driving the LLV. Our office includes primarily city routes but we do have 5-6 Promaster vehicles. These are obviously for apartment and/or walking routes only with the LHD setup. In addition, a RHD Promaster model is likely too high up for mailbox delivery. The LLV sits you at perfect height to toss mail in or around the average mailbox height. The Promaster, not so much. I've been lucky enough to have one of the worst routes in the office for the last 6 months, granting me the Promaster. It makes nice power over the LLV but as mentioned, the transmission is garbage and I think one of them already had a failure. That being said, the AC and heat have been a huge blessing. It is absolutely miserable being stuck in an aluminum can in 100 degree weather with a wheezing fan shooting hot air in your face. The "heat" they provide is not much to brag about, you'll still be wearing a coat in sub 30 temps to keep warm.
The LLV is a neat vehicle, but they are clearly far outside of the lifespan. If you want to hear some horrendous noise, swing by a postal parking lot around 8:05 on a cold day. Engines that crank for days and billow out smoke upon startup. Starter gears smacking flywheels. Backfiring. It's actually quite hilarious. With that being said, I'm pretty impressed with the durability. In the time I've been employed, only twice have I required vehicle assistance. Once for a faulty voltage regulator that caused a battery explosion, and a second for a blown headlamp switch in the dark. I've limped several back but for the most part, they get the job done. Are they safe? Not especially.
-John
In reply to stanger_missle :
Hmm, I'm only a couple of years older than you and I definitely remember it. Maybe we were just late getting the Grummans...
In reply to Nick Comstock :
I grew up in rural Idaho. I'm pretty sure prior to 1987, our mail was delivered by a horse drawn carriage. I don't know if all the delivery vehicles were swapped immediately to the LLV in 1987 or there was a phase out period, so it is a very good possibility that at least some DJs stayed in service past 1987.
You'll need to log in to post.
