7 ms·

Why are looks so important anyways? Clearly USPS is trying to look after its employees, trying to ensure they have the best vehicle, suited for their work with

Why are looks so important anyways? Clearly USPS is trying to look after its employees, trying to ensure they have the best vehicle, suited for their work with minimal hassle.

dangerbird2 6y ago
Better for all of us. The new vehicle clearly has really good visibility with the giant windshield, meaning we’re much less likely to get run over by Newman
- kumarvvr 6y ago
  I always feel sad that Wayne Knight did not get more screen time. Jerry did not use his talents to the fullest extent. I really wish there was a spin-off with only Newman & Kramer. Kramen.
Groxx 6y ago
That's a stupendously low step-in height. Probably makes a huge impact in reducing RSI and other repeated-motion injuries. More weirdness please. Looks great to me.
- specialist 6y ago
  Ya, this new design isn't nearly 'weird" enough. Why have a nose at all? Put driver's seat over the front wheels. Like the VW Vanagon (Eurovans). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Type_2_(T3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Type_2_(T3) These are gonna be EVs, right? Might as well do it right.
  - cialowicz 6y ago
    Having a nose that crumples is helpful in case of accidents. Turns out that VW Vanagons are deathtraps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmixmEkfLu0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmixmEkfLu0
    - josho 6y ago
      Did you watch the video? The Volkswagen faired as ‘safe as a car’. It was the other manufacturers that failed miserably. My conclusion from watching is that it seems like safety is a design problem that not every mfg designed for.
      - olivermarks 6y ago
        ICE firewalls are designed to deflect the enginedown and under in a head on collision. Vans with engine sitting between the driver and passenger in a doghouse, or worse engine in back makes their knees first on the scene of impact with little protection. The more bodywork and chassis/monocoque between you and the crumple zone the better.
        KingOfCoders 6y ago
        Did you watch the video? It says the exactly opposite thing. No impact to knees. No impact from steering wheel. Comparable to normal cars with hoods.
        TylerE 6y ago
        Cars in 1984 were death traps, too.
        olivermarks 6y ago
        Yes that was said at the time about why flat front vehicles were safe in the sixties. rule of thumb is the heavier/bigger the vehicle the more front end protection you have. These look pretty flimsy like the Grummans. Hopefully they have designed bracing into the frame to protect occupants.It's the high speed impacts by other vehicles that are the worry. Multi stop delivery is a major risk on busy roads. At least the design has the driver's feet just behind the front axle, would be interested to see the impact crumple one design. http://www.postal-reporter.com/blog/postal-worker-injured-after-head-on-collision-with-suv-in-kentucky/ http://www.postal-reporter.com/blog/postal-worker-injured-af... Separately it is going to be very hot in that cab with all that glass
  - niffydroid 6y ago
    To be honest I don't see the point of the nose. In Europe, lorries and busses have flat front and have since I was born.
  - globular-toast 6y ago
    The nose is just somewhere for the front wheel to go. Otherwise the driver has to step over it to mount the vehicle. The VW looks like it's considerably higher off the ground which means more stepping up and stepping down, hundreds of times a day. You could put the wheel behind the cab, but that's terrible for manoeuvrability. It's better to have the wheels at the corners of the vehicle as much as possible.
  - adamjb 6y ago
    Having a low nose is way more survival for people getting hit than a flat front.
Larrikin 6y ago
HN is usually pretty utilitarian, I'm sure there are a lot of people on here that admire Mark Zuckerburgs "style" and seek to emulate it by not caring at all about how they dress and simply optimizing for clothes that will last the longest. But there are also people out there who are influenced by wanting to look in a way they perceive as nice or cool and still have a satisfying life. I appreciate the tech culture that helped eliminate the suit but mostly because I like the way I dress and it's a form of expression for me. Plus it's nice regularly getting comments for putting in a little effort without having to resort to business casual. I know specifically my younger cousins admire that I can do a programming job and still wear (and are able to afford) clothes they'd want to wear. Perhaps if the USPS trucks weren't the ugliest design that satisfied specs and instead seemed like some cutting edge vehicle there might be people out there who are growing up that would actually find it kind of fun or cool to drive around a USPS truck. It might be nice for it to be a job people want to do versus it being a secure job where you're the joke for driving around the ugliest vehicle on the road while dodging people's dogs. As a simple example that well design can still be top quality, look at any of the trains on the Tokyo subway and train systems versus any train system in the US. They're far better functionally than any of the trains in New York or Chicago and look alot better inside and out as well. Maybe it looking impressive and not a tin can on wheels contributes to the increase in ridership for all groups of people, maybe that makes the job to be a conductor highly competitive to the point of it being a college degree worthy job. There are other things the train system does well but you still want to not hate riding on the vehicle. An even simpler to understand example is the early days of android vs iPhone. Android was simply uglier but wasn't that different functionally. It was just extremely ugly to the point of people not wanting to buy it if they could afford to otherwise, so much so that Google invested a ton of money in creating Material Design
- ironmagma 6y ago
  What looks ‘ugly’ today could very well look great in five years. The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco debuted to reception as an eyesore, but now it’s one of the main icons if the city. Weird is almost always good in my opinion. If it looks weird, that indicates it challenges assumptions and pushes the envelope forward.
ping_pong 6y ago
If they looked too good, the sad fact is that they might be targeted for being stolen.
- kube-system 6y ago
  Eh, I'm not sure about that. People don't steal cars because they look good. And the people who do, probably don't think box trucks are that attractive. Stolen vehicles are usually crimes of opportunity.
- Larrikin 6y ago
  People would not steal nice looking federal government vehicles for similar reasons as they didn't steal wasteful spending on those Dodge Charger police cars. You're committing a crime where the government has the maximum amount of incentive to hunt you down and charge with the most number of crimes. Stealing a regular person's car and crashing it isn't of much concern if you don't kill anyone.
  - jonfw 6y ago
    And a charger is still a consumer automobile, where if you registered it under a different VIN (from a totaled charger probably) you would be able to drive it around without raising eyebrows. What the hell are you going to do with a stolen mail truck? Everybody who sees it will know exactly where you got it

Why are looks so important anyways? Clearly USPS is trying to look after its employees, trying to ensure they have the best vehicle, suited for their work with minimal hassle.

dangerbird2 6y ago

Better for all of us. The new vehicle clearly has really good visibility with the giant windshield, meaning we’re much less likely to get run over by Newman

kumarvvr 6y ago
I always feel sad that Wayne Knight did not get more screen time. Jerry did not use his talents to the fullest extent. I really wish there was a spin-off with only Newman & Kramer. Kramen.

Groxx 6y ago

That's a stupendously low step-in height. Probably makes a huge impact in reducing RSI and other repeated-motion injuries. More weirdness please. Looks great to me.

specialist 6y ago
Ya, this new design isn't nearly 'weird" enough. Why have a nose at all? Put driver's seat over the front wheels. Like the VW Vanagon (Eurovans). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Type_2_(T3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Type_2_(T3) These are gonna be EVs, right? Might as well do it right.
- cialowicz 6y ago
  Having a nose that crumples is helpful in case of accidents. Turns out that VW Vanagons are deathtraps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmixmEkfLu0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmixmEkfLu0
  - josho 6y ago
    Did you watch the video? The Volkswagen faired as ‘safe as a car’. It was the other manufacturers that failed miserably. My conclusion from watching is that it seems like safety is a design problem that not every mfg designed for.
    - olivermarks 6y ago
      ICE firewalls are designed to deflect the enginedown and under in a head on collision. Vans with engine sitting between the driver and passenger in a doghouse, or worse engine in back makes their knees first on the scene of impact with little protection. The more bodywork and chassis/monocoque between you and the crumple zone the better.
      - KingOfCoders 6y ago
        Did you watch the video? It says the exactly opposite thing. No impact to knees. No impact from steering wheel. Comparable to normal cars with hoods.
        TylerE 6y ago
        Cars in 1984 were death traps, too.
        olivermarks 6y ago
        Yes that was said at the time about why flat front vehicles were safe in the sixties. rule of thumb is the heavier/bigger the vehicle the more front end protection you have. These look pretty flimsy like the Grummans. Hopefully they have designed bracing into the frame to protect occupants.It's the high speed impacts by other vehicles that are the worry. Multi stop delivery is a major risk on busy roads. At least the design has the driver's feet just behind the front axle, would be interested to see the impact crumple one design. http://www.postal-reporter.com/blog/postal-worker-injured-after-head-on-collision-with-suv-in-kentucky/ http://www.postal-reporter.com/blog/postal-worker-injured-af... Separately it is going to be very hot in that cab with all that glass
- niffydroid 6y ago
  To be honest I don't see the point of the nose. In Europe, lorries and busses have flat front and have since I was born.
- globular-toast 6y ago
  The nose is just somewhere for the front wheel to go. Otherwise the driver has to step over it to mount the vehicle. The VW looks like it's considerably higher off the ground which means more stepping up and stepping down, hundreds of times a day. You could put the wheel behind the cab, but that's terrible for manoeuvrability. It's better to have the wheels at the corners of the vehicle as much as possible.
- adamjb 6y ago
  Having a low nose is way more survival for people getting hit than a flat front.

Larrikin 6y ago

HN is usually pretty utilitarian, I'm sure there are a lot of people on here that admire Mark Zuckerburgs "style" and seek to emulate it by not caring at all about how they dress and simply optimizing for clothes that will last the longest. But there are also people out there who are influenced by wanting to look in a way they perceive as nice or cool and still have a satisfying life. I appreciate the tech culture that helped eliminate the suit but mostly because I like the way I dress and it's a form of expression for me. Plus it's nice regularly getting comments for putting in a little effort without having to resort to business casual. I know specifically my younger cousins admire that I can do a programming job and still wear (and are able to afford) clothes they'd want to wear. Perhaps if the USPS trucks weren't the ugliest design that satisfied specs and instead seemed like some cutting edge vehicle there might be people out there who are growing up that would actually find it kind of fun or cool to drive around a USPS truck. It might be nice for it to be a job people want to do versus it being a secure job where you're the joke for driving around the ugliest vehicle on the road while dodging people's dogs. As a simple example that well design can still be top quality, look at any of the trains on the Tokyo subway and train systems versus any train system in the US. They're far better functionally than any of the trains in New York or Chicago and look alot better inside and out as well. Maybe it looking impressive and not a tin can on wheels contributes to the increase in ridership for all groups of people, maybe that makes the job to be a conductor highly competitive to the point of it being a college degree worthy job. There are other things the train system does well but you still want to not hate riding on the vehicle. An even simpler to understand example is the early days of android vs iPhone. Android was simply uglier but wasn't that different functionally. It was just extremely ugly to the point of people not wanting to buy it if they could afford to otherwise, so much so that Google invested a ton of money in creating Material Design

ironmagma 6y ago
What looks ‘ugly’ today could very well look great in five years. The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco debuted to reception as an eyesore, but now it’s one of the main icons if the city. Weird is almost always good in my opinion. If it looks weird, that indicates it challenges assumptions and pushes the envelope forward.

ping_pong 6y ago

If they looked too good, the sad fact is that they might be targeted for being stolen.

kube-system 6y ago
Eh, I'm not sure about that. People don't steal cars because they look good. And the people who do, probably don't think box trucks are that attractive. Stolen vehicles are usually crimes of opportunity.
Larrikin 6y ago
People would not steal nice looking federal government vehicles for similar reasons as they didn't steal wasteful spending on those Dodge Charger police cars. You're committing a crime where the government has the maximum amount of incentive to hunt you down and charge with the most number of crimes. Stealing a regular person's car and crashing it isn't of much concern if you don't kill anyone.
- jonfw 6y ago
  And a charger is still a consumer automobile, where if you registered it under a different VIN (from a totaled charger probably) you would be able to drive it around without raising eyebrows. What the hell are you going to do with a stolen mail truck? Everybody who sees it will know exactly where you got it