United States Postal Service delivery trucks are sporting a potential new look in Leesburg. Here's what you need to know about them.
If you see a new look to the USPS delivery trucks and carriers in Leesburg these days, don't be surprised: The truck is a prototype undergoing road tests in the USPS’s Next Generation Delivery Vehicle Program. According to the Office of Inspector General website, the "USPS's 142,000 long-life vehicles (LLVs) out of the 190,000-vehicle total delivery fleet are near or have exceeded their expected service life." From a historical perspective, manual-driven mail delivery vehicles called mailsters were rolled out by the USPS in 1964. Turning ahead to the new rollout of USPS delivery trucks in 2018, these vehicles will most likely be equipped with rear-view cameras, electric power sources (bye-bye to gasoline), and other necessities that come with modern technology. [caption id="attachment_3819" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Photo of Mailster vehicle, circa 1964. Courtesy of USPS[/caption] There are five competitors vying to be the winning bidder for this new model, including AM General, Oshkosh, and Turkey’s Karsan (a company based in India), each hoping for the "multi-billion-dollar contract to replace the iconic Grumman LLVs that have been in service since 1987."
According to Trucks.com, "the new vehicle will replace the boxy Grumman Long Life Vehicle that has delivered letters and packages since it was designed for the USPS in the 1980s. Of the 215,000 mail trucks in rotation, 140,000 are at least two decades old. The new contract could be for as many as 180,000 trucks."
[caption id="attachment_4011" align="aligncenter" width="587"] Image courtesy of Trucks.com's Twitter[/caption]
USPS's replacement vehicles are supposed to hit the road in 2018, so the American tax-paying public should be on the lookout for these new machines. And the projected price tag? $6.3 billion.
[caption id="attachment_4012" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Image courtesy of USPS[/caption]
Hopefully, whichever company wins the bid will also help increase the efficiency of the USPS delivery people. I figure, if increased efficiency helps mail carriers get important mail to our doorsteps by noon or earlier (instead of at dusk), mail carrier safety would be improved -- not to mention, the more timely arrival of important correspondence.
What are your thoughts on these USPS delivery truck prototypes -- and price tag? Feel free to leave a comment below.