5 ms·
If this was happening in South Africa I would think corruption 100%. I mean, why can't you just take any van and stick some standard issue shelves in the back?
by mozey 6y ago
If this was happening in South Africa I would think corruption 100%. I mean, why can't you just take any van and stick some standard issue shelves in the back?
- kube-system 6y agoYou can do that -- but remember that the USPS operates at a huge scale and with a very specific set of use cases. Mass market vehicles are designed for average use cases. If they can custom design a vehicle that saves a driver 1 second per delivery, or decrease their accident rate by 1%, that could be enough savings to pay for the vehicle and then some. Many organizations that operate at a huge scale find it beneficial to customize their essential tool set. That being said -- The USPS definitely does have some vehicles from traditional automakers in their fleet. My mailman drives a RAM ProMaster. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Ducato https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Ducato It's left-hand-drive though, so I would imagine that carriers wouldn't want to drive one on a route with mailboxes at the roadside. https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/usps2-1614115516.jpg https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images...
- jonmon6691 6y agoThis is really not a new thing, ups and fedex have been using custom package cars for decades. It seems totally crazy to go with a military contractor for something that we have a mature industry for a la FCCC or Paccar equivalent
- kube-system 6y agoOshkosh has been making trucks since 1917... and they make commercial vehicles too. For example, Jerr-Dan is one of their brands.
- detaro 6y agoFedex buys trucks from companies like "Spartan Motors", that build in custom/specialized vehicles. From wikipedia, Oshkosh seems be a company doing custom/specialized vehicles for all kinds of purposes, including military designs. Why does that seem like a "crazy" choice suddenly?
- linksnapzz 6y agoOshkosh is/has a large civilian truck frame and chassis manufacturer.
- maccard 6y agoI realise that the uk is different in scale to the US, but we function just fine here with mass market vehicles. All* our last mile deliveries are made by normal vehicles, even in London! (Apparently according to https://www.whatvan.co.uk/analysis-and-comment/2016/fleet-focus-the-royal-mail https://www.whatvan.co.uk/analysis-and-comment/2016/fleet-fo... there are some modified vans by peugeot to handle "rough" terrain, but that's a far cry from a custom designed custom built vehicle).
- kube-system 6y agoBear in mind that these "custom" vehicles that the USPS has used in the past use a lot of off-the-shelf parts. For example, the current "custom" Grumman LLV is built on a GM chassis, and uses a GM powertrain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_LLV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_LLV It's essentially a new shell thrown on top of an 80's GM SUV. Do you have left-hand drive mail vehicles in the UK? I don't recall ever seeing images of a Royal Mail delivering to a post-mounted mail box from a truck now that I think about it....
- maccard 6y agoNot that I know of, nope. My experience is that the royal mail vans are parked, and they do the rounds on-foot/bike
- antattack 6y ago160 000 vehicles is not huge scale for any automaker. Anyway, I think the biggest issue is that USPS is not requiring for next gen platform to be fully electric.
- Rebelgecko 6y agoDriver's seat would be on the wrong side, so in for the US we'd need to import cars from places like SA that are right hand drive.
- grecy 6y agoWell, yes. For decades rural routes have been served using Right Hand Drive Jeeps built for export markets (Australia, NZ, SA, etc.)