The USPS operates over 200,000 vehicles in all areas of the United States and its territories. More than 160,000 of these are right-hand drive vehicles that need to be replaced with the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV). The potential also exists to replace the other 20,000 plus left hand drive vehicles with the NGDV along with adding this vehicle to the 30,000 plus rural routes that use their own vehicle to deliver.
The desire is to design a vehicle in which the operator’s relationship with the mail delivery and vehicle operating tasks are the foremost concern of the NGDV design. The specifications for the NGDV concentrate on the design aspects of the driver-vehicle relationship and the changing mail make up with the reduction in the traditional letter and flat volume and the increase in parcels. This methodology is the result of past experience that has necessitated a vehicle that is more ergonomically correct than previous carrier route vehicles and allows for the needed space to organize and stow parcels for the growing parcel business.
The first phase will be for interested suppliers to provide a proposed vehicle that meets the following specifications. The second phase will be the award of a contract for a select few suppliers to build and provide five prototype vehicles. These vehicles will be tested for user acceptability, durability, and conformance to the requirements. The third phase will be the selection of a winning design and the procurement of a fleet of those vehicles.
In a presentation by USPS to prospective suppliers the next mail truck would need total cargo space of 330 to 400 cubic feet, a minimum clear floor space of 72″ by 108″, 76″ of headroom, and a clear bulkhead passage that’s 30″ wide. USPS is requiring a larger vehicle to accommodate the growing parcel business.
Specifications
•18 – 20 year planned service life
•Right-hand steering, 2-wheel drive, 4-wheel drive option
•Heavy-duty, automatic transmission, traction-control functionality
•Rear and forward wheels align
•Van-style body with integral cargo and cab compartment constructed of aluminum alloy or composite materials; sliding side doors
•Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) certified with driver side airbag
•Minimum 1500 lb payload capacity (driver plus cargo)
•Air conditioning (optional)
All current vehicles produced do not have sliding drivers door or aluminum bodies or right hand drive this is why USPS want there own specs
What the post office needs to do is make a truck that doubles as an ice cream stand. The truck makes stops anyway, right? This way the post office can actually make money.
How about intermittent windshield wipers, AWD, radio, cup holder and a heater that works. Also move the exhaust pipe off the driver’s side so I’m not stoned on carbon monoxide by the end of the day. How about someplace to put the rubber bands since VMF has a fit when you put them on the gear shift or turn signal lever.
forget 4wd optional, get symmetrical all wheel drive, PERIOD I hope they have an on/off switch for the airbag, otherwise the airbag will be going off every time we have to push the pile of snow to get to the box. We also will need to keep those heavy rubber bumpers for the same reason. A/C is optional because the boss needs the cargo area a/c working when doing 99’s. The groceries also need to be kept cold. The optional part is no A/C for the driver. How about a heated seat and a cup holder. Also room to stand up and lean over the snow piles( like the current llv ) to place mail into box Thanks for the carrier input. My llv has well over 225k, but they still have some good design points
I will retire before any new LLV’s are made, so I guess I don’t have much of a dog in this hunt. However, in the interest of those who will be dealing with the new vehicles, I hope the design is better on several fronts. Having the front and rear tires align is something that should have been done with the original fleet. How many billions have been spent on new tires that are ruined within months of being installed because the truck skids around corners, not making proper tire contact. Whomever designed that alignment was a fucking moron, and whomever approved it from the USPS must have been the designer’s Siamese twin.
We do need higher back ends and more parcel space. My back just absolutely kills me when I have to stoop over and slink around the back end just to keep parcels in line, and many is the day when I’ve had to stack them two and three deep, just a disaster. It’s a wonder we remember all our packages.
We need side racks, which look like they’re going to be in the new LLV, better heating and maybe A/C, but that is not essential since park and loops will do little traveling besides to and from the route, and driving routes will not benefit from the cool air that much with windows down for curbside delivery.
We need better heaters. We also need a design that doesn’t blow engine heat into the cab whether the heater is on or not. An AM/FM radio would be nice, but management will be looking at GPS to be able to watch us every step of the way and be ready with discipline the second we go one minute over on a break or at lunch. I know with the new scanners they’ll go berserk if you miss a parcel and management will get an e-mail from district demanding why we “forgot” a package when we all backtrack at least once a day for one we forget or it gets misplaced out of sequence and we don’t discover it until later.
Your new truck will be a spy vehicle, telling on you for every little perceived offense. It’ll be like having an examiner every single day with you and discipline will go through the roof. Watch out for the new scanners. They will be electronic rats for all intent and purposes.
Looks similar to the old llv just a little bigger
What the carriers really need is FWD, a good heater and a roof vent.
equipped with GPS,DVD player, Wi Fi ?
And management expects carriers to drive these behemoths thru neighborhoods around trash cans and vehicles safely. LOL
Good point it will be a lot of fun trying to park then also.
im sure mgt. will end up buying all the remaining 1971 pintos that are left in the u.s. to be the new delivery vehicles.
•Air conditioning (optional)
NICE!!
Why re-invent the wheel? so, you’re telling me of all the delivery companies out there using current available delivery vehicles, they are doing it wrong? Ford Transit w/cargo up to 487 cu ft, or a Sprinter w/ cargo up to 530 cu ft, or a Promaster w/ 460 cu ft, or Nissan NV cargo up to 323 cu ft. Any of these would work, but USPS want to completely design something inside out and throw more money at it than its worth. Somebodies brother is gonna get paid big time. Same old S#!T.
We desperately need new vehicles NOW. The beginning deployment date is THREE years away. Why can’t we buy vehicles rolling off Detroit assembly lines today?!?! We are run by idiots.