If you pay attention to what happens at the United States Postal Service, you probably know that Grumman LLV is retired. This premium mail has served the agency for decades, but now it’s time for something new. At first, it looked like it was going to be USPS’ first electric delivery vehicle. But the Postal Service has also secured a fleet of all-electric mail trucks from Ford.
Is the Postal Service going electric vehicles?
In order to be more in line with the Biden administration, USPS is converting the majority of its fleet into mail trucks. This process wasn’t because when the agency first placed an order for new delivery vehicles from Oshkosh, most of them had internal combustion engines.
for NGDV. This time around, 45,000 Oshkosh NGDV trucks have been ordered to be electric. This is a much higher number than initially planned.
Ford helps with USPS mail trucks
According to Oshkosh NGDV it’s not the only electric mail van or the first the Postal Service is getting. USPS has decided to purchase about 9,000 Ford E-Transits to help make the deliveries. This will help the agency achieve its goal of adding at least 66,000 electric vehicles to its fleet.
However, all this electricity doesn’t come without growing pains. The Postal Service will need to add shipping stations to its locations. This way, these vehicles have a place to charge when they are not out delivering mail. Apparently, approximately 14,000 charging stations have been ordered from various suppliers.
The car will have a range of about 125 miles and be rear-wheel drive. This range may not seem like much. But most postal companies have a track of about 24 miles. Almost all routes are less than 70 miles. Because of that, moving to electric mail trucks makes sense. Postal workers can run their course, then go home to ship their USPS mail truck.
Is Grumman LLV retired?
After years of dedicated service, it’s almost time to say goodbye to Grumman LLV. This mail truck must have been in business for years. It was already supposed to be out of service by now. However, this car was so powerful that it still delivers mail to millions of people every day.
If you like it, this might be good news for you. It is very likely that a lot of these trucks will appear in the auction. And while the Grumman LLV isn’t the most practical car if it’s not a mail hauler, it’s a part of automotive history. I think there is something special about that. After all, the Postal Service is one of our oldest organizations here in the United States.
