USPS Chooses Oshkosh Defense to replace Grumman mail-delivery trucks...

Is this the ugliest vehicle ever produced?

  • Total voters
    16
  • Poll closed .
It should be brilliant in terms of surround visibility low to the ground, e.g. kids, toys, bicycles, the odd mailbox even.
 
I had toasted cheese bagels for lunch, they were great.

I'm still right about it being butt fugly though. :tease:
 
You ain't wrong!
 
I really don't get why the postal service even needs a purpose built vehicle in the first place. What is wrong with using a standard city van like every other country outside of North America does?

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Or the Transit Connect.
 
Neither of those is built in the US. Probably some sort of USPS buying requirement.
 
Apart from that, the creation of a dedicated vehicle means that you get to take into account considerations that wouldn't (and probably shouldn't) be in the spec document for a normal city van. For instance, being walkthrough so you can reach the packages from the driver seat without exiting the vehicle and that enormous windscreen so drivers can have unparalleled visibility. And being how the Federal government can order these vehicles in sufficient bulk that manufacturers may actually look at an RFP for specialized vehicles and their long-term support, I fail to see the problem.

Also, fun fact, while reading about this, I discovered that Germany too wanted a purpose-built vehicle:

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And they made it themselves after not finding a partner on the project (they ultimately bought an EV manufacturer from Westphalia. I can only imagine the atomic-level whining that would happen if USPS had attempted to do something similar). There's about 20,000 of the boxy little things trundling around Germany as of writing.

EDIT: Conversely, USPS also does indeed use "Standard city vans"

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gaasc said:
And they made it themselves after not finding a partner on the project (they ultimately bought an EV manufacturer from Westphalia. I can only imagine the atomic-level whining that would happen if USPS had attempted to do something similar). There's about 20,000 of the boxy little things trundling around Germany as of writing.
Click to expand...
Yeah and the whole division was sold off after incurring multiple hundreds of millions of losses over the 7 or 8 years under deutsche post ownership. don't get me wrong, this wouldn't have been any better under other ownership - the vehicles are just horrible. originated as a small city car frame with flexible "attachments", the vehicle pictures above was already basically the maximum the frame would be able to carry in terms of weight. which technically is too small for a typical DHL delivery vehicle. then, in contract to properly built EVs, they liked to burst into flame while charging. there were crazy design decisions all over the place with that thing...

But yeah, we Germans did do that "purpose built" thing (not really, see above), too. It did not go very well, but at least it put 20k EVs on the road before the established OEMs got off their asses to compete...
 
Barely better than the previous fleet, that had no A/C. They ran the test with A/C.

Sounds bad, but I’m my opinion it’s at least showing improvement. The truck is also bigger I believe. Do we know how much these weigh? So many factors I want to know that will make a difference.

Plus, even if these had zero improvement in efficiency, a new vehicle with wiring that isn’t degrading causing vehicle fires is a win in my book. Low bar, but hey the bar was set that low.
 
Meanwhile, our mail carriers use Swiss made Kyburz trikes with trailers. Electric, of course. They have mechanical air conditioning and the operators have clothes that keep the rain out.

I'd also rather be in a 8.6 mpg truck if I was doing this job, but the guys and gals on the Kyburzeseses seem to like them. I guess you don't apply for a job as a mail carrier in my neck of the woods if you don't like being outdoors.

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Maybe I’m a wimp, but I hate working outside when it drops below about 8°C….
 
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