Bids open for new USPS Mail Trucks

In my area, the rural carriers are being assigned LLVs. It's cheaper for the USPS to furnish a vehicle than to pay for the mileage on a privately owned vehicle. We had one person spend big money to buy a new RHD Jeep Wranger unlimited right before she was told to use a USPS vehicle. Now the Jeep is her daily driver. In the past, there was a shortage of LLVs but there has been a move to eliminate/consolidate routes and remove spare vehicles from larger offices and that has freed up quite a few for the rural people. Honestly, those converted LHD cars that some of the rural carriers use are downright scary. I can't even imagine using a regular LHD car and sitting on the right side.

I'd assume that the LLVs will be in use for a while longer since the bidding process has yet to close and the evaluation and testing phase isn't even scheduled. Then there's the lead time on manufacturing and getting all the new vehicles out into the field. The real question is, off the shelf solution or something custom? I'm sure that an existing JDM or EDM vehicle with RHD would be an easy button solution and save a lot of time replacing the fleet. A custom vehicle is going to cost more to design and build, raising the cost per unit significantly. It's also going to take years longer to test and finalize the design. That time increase is going to cost a lot more in extended LLV maintenance costs and decreased fuel efficiency, not to mention accident claim payouts.

On first glance, both the Ford Transit and Dodge ProMaster don't look like they'll work based entirely on the window opening in the drivers door. You need a big space put your arm out to deliver mail quickly and efficiently. The Chevy Express looks like it might have a front window that would work but the body doesn't look like much of an improvement in size over the LLV. Again, none of them are aluminum bodied which is going to cost the USPS a ton of money in rust repair and repainting.

There is no quick and easy fix right now and I seriously doubt that the USPS will get anywhere near 20-30 years out of this next round of delivery vehicles.

Keith Tanner wrote: I'm not sure the USPS has the same culture as the military......

Yes it does Keith. And not in any good sort of way.

a version of a transit connect would work great.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Why do I want to lsx one of these things. Turbo it and go make 600 hp.

This! Plus I want to add box flares. Might need to modify the sliding door track so it will open around the flare.

I'm hoping there will be an abundance available for challenge money in a few years.

Spec LLV?

In reply to PseudoSport:

Loose the doors.

blockquote>GameboyRMH wrote:

mblommel wrote: If it's going to be a custom built vehicle anyways seems like it would make sense to go hybrid. For most of the delivery driving I would think electric mode would be fine. Off the top of my head this seems like a perfect project for Tesla.

Wrightspeed has actually been working on a hybrid system for delivery trucks for a couple of years now.

On paper I like the idea of a hybrid mail truck experiment but if they keep them 20+ years not so much.

I don't know if the situation will be different for mail trucks because of how they are used. Our hybrid buses are getting on in years and they develop a number of problems different than a convention vehicle would. Because of how they are configured the often become tows instead of something a mechanic can get to limp into the shop on its own. The repairs start to eat up the money saved in fuel. Between the higher initial cost and the added repairs we have gone with traditional diesel buses in recent years.

In reply to Wally:

And that is why hybrid/electrics aren't the answer currently. The technology just isn't to a practical level yet. They have those hybrid buses here and the city can't afford to fix them....so they're usually sitting and the older biodiesel buses are running.

In reply to Keith:

Those hybrids don't have the best finish rate though......and for the love of god don't let Datsun design anything. Their cock 'n balls thing made it how long, about 20 minutes into the last 24hrs of LeMans?

Convert this to RHD and add a roof

yamaha wrote: In reply to Wally: And that is why hybrid/electrics aren't the answer currently. The technology just isn't to a practical level yet. They have those hybrid buses here and the city can't afford to fix them....so they're usually sitting and the older biodiesel buses are running. In reply to Keith: Those hybrids don't have the best finish rate though......and for the love of god don't let Datsun design anything. Their cock 'n balls thing made it how long, about 20 minutes into the last 24hrs of LeMans?

Yeah, the ZEOD had a transmission failure.

However, every LMP1 car is a hybrid. Hybrids have won Le Mans outright for the past three years, even when it wasn't required by the regulations. In 2012, Audi fielded both hybrids and pure diesel cars, and the hybrids finished 1-2. So the finish rate isn't terrible.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: a version of a transit connect would work great.

The transit connect just had a revamp, so the old tooling for the prior generation is just sitting around. Might be possible to start banging out aluminum-bodied prior generation transit connects with that tooling. They punched some aluminum skins for the old body F150 as a test, on the old tooling, and made it work (to test for the new truck).

You could drop in the 2L N/A motor, the 1.6L N/A motor, the hybrid drivetrain from the fusion hybrid (used as a taxi vehicle because it's cheap, reliable, and makes sense for fleet use), your choice of ecoboost motors, etc. All the current ford 4's drop in to that transverse hole pretty much the same.

Then you order the mix that makes sense for your post office - a couple LWB ecoboost models for high-volume routes, SWB hybrid models for urban/suburban deliveries.

Keith Tanner wrote: However, every LMP1 car is a hybrid. Hybrids have won Le Mans outright for the past three years, even when it wasn't required by the regulations. In 2012, Audi fielded both hybrids and pure diesel cars, and the hybrids finished 1-2. So the finish rate isn't terrible.

Wait, so Rebellion Racing is running hybrids now? There are non-hybrid/non-diesel LMP-1 cars.....usually fielded by privateers that can't spend billions upon billions doing this.

What about those taxi/cab car/trucklet things?

I dont really see anything "off the shelf" working. The life span of the LLV seems pretty impressive to me. I bet the winner will be another body on frame box with a better HVAC and super duty hinges/latches/wipers.

I wonder if they have to pass crash standards?

yamaha wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote: However, every LMP1 car is a hybrid. Hybrids have won Le Mans outright for the past three years, even when it wasn't required by the regulations. In 2012, Audi fielded both hybrids and pure diesel cars, and the hybrids finished 1-2. So the finish rate isn't terrible.

Wait, so Rebellion Racing is running hybrids now? There are non-hybrid/non-diesel LMP-1 cars.....usually fielded by privateers that can't spend billions upon billions doing this.

Okay, you win the pedantry award. You're right, there are some back markers who are running without hybrid tech. I think the manufacturers are required to run hybrids, but whatever. It's not really relevant.

My point is still valid - they have proven themselves to be reliable enough to win the race over and over. And the drive cycle of a delivery vehicle is well suited to a hybrid drivetrain. They're already being used in city buses for the same reason.

Curmudgeon said:

My thought was a diesel version of the Volt drivetrain, a small displacement constant RPM diesel driving a generator that charges batteries etc. It might be more $ at the outset but would quickly recover that in lowered fuel costs. Just have to get them to last 15 years...

Is anyone producing something like that these days? I remembering reading about that method way back in '72, and have wondered why the so called hybrids surpassed them when our taxes started paying for manufactures to build "electric" cars to sell to us. Since the average hybrid (at least from several years ago - I don't keep current) does not get much better mileage than can be managed without the extra systems, I always thought that would be one efficient and compact little package.

My rural carrier just got he latest delivery vehical provided by the postal service. Before this she was driving a Element... as a lot seem to like. She now has a Benz (not a Merc) Mini van. She absolutely LOVES it. A tad larger than the usual import van, but not the big sprinter. And not diesel (thou I have no clue why not)

Diesels suck for stop and go delivery. The emissions systems fail with alarming speed. 

UPS has gone back to gas trucks for that same reason. 

In reply to Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) :

Yep, I wasn't thinkin' on that one! The natural gas company from VA when I lived there, had converted a lot of their fleet too... You guessed it, natural gas. Seemed to do good with their stop and go.