4 ms·

>The USPS is primarily looking to get its fleet from defense contractor Oshkosh, which will provide 60,000 vehicles, with 45,000 of them being electric. But the

by tsol 4y ago

>The USPS is primarily looking to get its fleet from defense contractor Oshkosh, which will provide 60,000 vehicles, with 45,000 of them being electric. But the mail agency will also look to other automakers for another 46,000 vans, with 21,000 of those being EVs. >Podesta told The Washington Post he believes it will pressure other shipping and delivery companies “to up their game, too.” Some companies like FedEx have already reserved 2,500 electric delivery vans from GM-backed BrightDrop, and Amazon ordered 100,000 Rivian EVs to be on the road by 2030. Is a military contractor really the best solution we have for cars? As much as I love the headline, this feels like a handout to defense contractors

dublinben 4y ago
The previous vehicle, the Grumman LLV, was also produced by a defense contractor. It's part and parcel (no pun intended) of delivering an enormous government contract. Traditional automakers just aren't in this business. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_LLV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_LLV
- KptMarchewa 4y ago
  Why not just buy off the shelf vehicles like other posts or courier companies? Like Volkswagen Transporter, Mercedes Sprinter or Ford Transit if you want American
  - postalrat 4y ago
    Wiki says the LLV's chassis is from a chevy blazer. The engine is also from GM. The rest of it is modifications needed for its role.
    - Tanoc 4y ago
      The original LLV was designed as a custom body atop the Chevrolet S-10, including using the original drivetrain. Everything aside from the body comes from the S-10, hence why they were able to keep them on the road for so long. Even as simple as it was, the LLV was a major departure from the Jeep DJ-S, which was just a modified right hand drive Jeep CJ-5 with a sliding side door. In both cases the off the shelf parts available directly from the manufacturers extended the service of first two official USPS mail trucks well beyond their intended lives. Something which is unlikely with Oshkosh given the heavily custom nature of it. Refits to the LLV have included buying drop-in replacement LED headlights to replace the original square sealed beams since the form factor is a standardized part shared across the entire automotive industry from the 1970s onwards. Meanwhile the headlight assemblies for the NGDV are custom made, from the shrouds to the LED driver boards (an expensive problem shared with most headlights these days). We may have a similar problem to the Cadillac XLR's taillights where the driver boards make it infeasible to replace them.
  - WhyIsItGlowing 4y ago
    The USPS has a bunch of highly-specific requirements that they aren't willing to change, which makes an off-the-shelf van impossible. These are things like: giant unpainted bumpers, sliding drivers door, the rear door has to be roll-up rather than normal doors, step through from front to rear, some size requirements. One of the alternatives which was rejected when they signed the contract for the new vans was a customised Ford Transit.
    - KptMarchewa 4y ago
      Might be wise to rethink those instead of trying to be unique. Haven't heard about "custom post vehicle" anywhere else in the world.
- tsol 4y ago
  Interesting, thanks for sharing that
justsomehnguy 4y ago
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DAUPSA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DAUPSA > Domestic auto production is defined as all autos assembled in the U.S. 45k-60k units would be a 1/5th or 1/6th of all domestic production in the US for a year. Contract stipulates between 5k to 16.5k units per year, with a production run for a ten years, which means parts, repairs and overalls are going for another 10-15 years after the run. It's a quarter century investment, if not more - the last LLV was made in 1994: >> The lifespan specified by the U.S. Postal Service was 24 years, but in 2009 this was extended to 30 years. The majority of LLVs have been on the road for over 27 years.

by tsol 4y ago

dublinben 4y ago

The previous vehicle, the Grumman LLV, was also produced by a defense contractor. It's part and parcel (no pun intended) of delivering an enormous government contract. Traditional automakers just aren't in this business. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_LLV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_LLV

KptMarchewa 4y ago
Why not just buy off the shelf vehicles like other posts or courier companies? Like Volkswagen Transporter, Mercedes Sprinter or Ford Transit if you want American
- postalrat 4y ago
  Wiki says the LLV's chassis is from a chevy blazer. The engine is also from GM. The rest of it is modifications needed for its role.
  - Tanoc 4y ago
    The original LLV was designed as a custom body atop the Chevrolet S-10, including using the original drivetrain. Everything aside from the body comes from the S-10, hence why they were able to keep them on the road for so long. Even as simple as it was, the LLV was a major departure from the Jeep DJ-S, which was just a modified right hand drive Jeep CJ-5 with a sliding side door. In both cases the off the shelf parts available directly from the manufacturers extended the service of first two official USPS mail trucks well beyond their intended lives. Something which is unlikely with Oshkosh given the heavily custom nature of it. Refits to the LLV have included buying drop-in replacement LED headlights to replace the original square sealed beams since the form factor is a standardized part shared across the entire automotive industry from the 1970s onwards. Meanwhile the headlight assemblies for the NGDV are custom made, from the shrouds to the LED driver boards (an expensive problem shared with most headlights these days). We may have a similar problem to the Cadillac XLR's taillights where the driver boards make it infeasible to replace them.
- WhyIsItGlowing 4y ago
  The USPS has a bunch of highly-specific requirements that they aren't willing to change, which makes an off-the-shelf van impossible. These are things like: giant unpainted bumpers, sliding drivers door, the rear door has to be roll-up rather than normal doors, step through from front to rear, some size requirements. One of the alternatives which was rejected when they signed the contract for the new vans was a customised Ford Transit.
  - KptMarchewa 4y ago
    Might be wise to rethink those instead of trying to be unique. Haven't heard about "custom post vehicle" anywhere else in the world.
tsol 4y ago
Interesting, thanks for sharing that

justsomehnguy 4y ago

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DAUPSA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DAUPSA > Domestic auto production is defined as all autos assembled in the U.S. 45k-60k units would be a 1/5th or 1/6th of all domestic production in the US for a year. Contract stipulates between 5k to 16.5k units per year, with a production run for a ten years, which means parts, repairs and overalls are going for another 10-15 years after the run. It's a quarter century investment, if not more - the last LLV was made in 1994: >> The lifespan specified by the U.S. Postal Service was 24 years, but in 2009 this was extended to 30 years. The majority of LLVs have been on the road for over 27 years.