Why wouldn’t they just used a customized Ford Transit or something?
USPS Awards Contract to Modernize Postal Delivery Vehicle Fleet
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Re: USPS Awards Contract to Modernize Postal Delivery Vehicle Fleet
#42I hope they plan to design them as rolling data platforms. Postal trucks are ideal for collecting hyperlocal data. The 360 camera is a good start, assuming it can record. Imagine getting a completely up to date Street View every day . Imagine getting hyperlocal weather data every day . And more importantly, that same data collected over time. Being able to monitor the daily changes in weather or traffic or erosion. W…
I suppose google and facebook selling your data is not enough for you...
Google already drives around a fleet of vehicles to collect this data. Wouldn't it be better for them to give all that money to the postal service to subsidize mail delivery while also getting cars off the road?
Re: USPS Awards Contract to Modernize Postal Delivery Vehicle Fleet
#43I hope they plan to design them as rolling data platforms. Postal trucks are ideal for collecting hyperlocal data. The 360 camera is a good start, assuming it can record. Imagine getting a completely up to date Street View every day . Imagine getting hyperlocal weather data every day . And more importantly, that same data collected over time. Being able to monitor the daily changes in weather or traffic or erosion. W…
We already can get hyper local weather data: every airport (and there are a lot of small airports in the U.S.) and tons of public buildings have weather stations on them. I guarantee you can get weather data within a few miles easily.
As to everything else: no, that would be creepy and the post office shouldn't do it. They don't need to become profitable or do off-mission things just to please the people that think it should be run like a business for some reason even though the whole point of the post office is to actually go everywhere (even where it wouldn't be profitable for FedEx et al to go) and be cheap (ie. not to be run like a business, to be run like a public service, which is what it is).
Re: USPS Awards Contract to Modernize Postal Delivery Vehicle Fleet
#44Why wouldn’t they just used a customized Ford Transit or something?
Because when you're buying a "major car OEMs are happy to sell this number" number of vehicles you can afford to get exactly what you want and the resultant few % reduction in operating cost over the following decade or two will more than make up for the increased cost up front.
Also odds are this thing will be a mish-mash of GM or Ford parts bin with just the body and body specific stuff being different (like the LLV, or that handicapped van AM general used to make). So they may very well be buying a "customized Ford Transit" where it just so happens the body is also custom.
Re: USPS Awards Contract to Modernize Postal Delivery Vehicle Fleet
#45The proposed new trucks look pretty wonky, like a cartoon: https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images...
Isn't the driver seat on the wrong side? US should be on the left side right? The figure shows right side...
This way the driver can put mail in suburban mailboxes without leaving the seat (while driving on the right side of the road).
Re: USPS Awards Contract to Modernize Postal Delivery Vehicle Fleet
#46Why wouldn’t they just used a customized Ford Transit or something?
Apparently they're being built by a company called Oshkosh Defense because... delivering mail is just like combat?
Re: USPS Awards Contract to Modernize Postal Delivery Vehicle Fleet
#47I hope they plan to design them as rolling data platforms. Postal trucks are ideal for collecting hyperlocal data. The 360 camera is a good start, assuming it can record. Imagine getting a completely up to date Street View every day . Imagine getting hyperlocal weather data every day . And more importantly, that same data collected over time. Being able to monitor the daily changes in weather or traffic or erosion. W…
We already can get hyper local weather data: every airport (and there are a lot of small airports in the U.S.) and tons of public buildings have weather stations on them. I guarantee you can get weather data within a few miles easily. As to everything else: no, that would be creepy and the post office shouldn't do it. They don't need to become profitable or do off-mission things just to please the people that think i…
I said the same below but it applies here too: Google already drives around a fleet of vehicles to collect this data. Wouldn't it be better for them to give all that money to the postal service to subsidize mail delivery while also getting cars off the road?
And I'm talking about truly hyperlocal data. When I load up Weather Underground or Purple Air, there are a bunch of sensors near me, but the closest is one mile away. I know the route of my postal carrier. He starts his day less than one mile and stays within one mile of my house his entire day. I'd love to have daily temp and air pollution readings from sensors that are near my house all day.
Re: USPS Awards Contract to Modernize Postal Delivery Vehicle Fleet
#48Why wouldn’t they just used a customized Ford Transit or something?
The current-gen mail vehicle is called the LLV - literally the Grumman Long Life Vehicle - and the mileage these things have taken on speaks well to the name.
USPS tends to order these things with the expectation that they'll last forever (400k+ miles) with relatively little upkeep. Most cars out today, even if they get to e.g. 200k miles, will probably have taken on some pretty major repairs.
History:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_DJ ('55-'84)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_LLV ('87-'94, still used today)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Generation_Delivery_Vehic... ('23 onward)
Further reading:
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_1989.0563.1 - Jeep DJ
Re: USPS Awards Contract to Modernize Postal Delivery Vehicle Fleet
#49The proposed new trucks look pretty wonky, like a cartoon: https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images...
Isn't the driver seat on the wrong side? US should be on the left side right? The figure shows right side...
Current US mail trucks are right hand drive so the driver can deliver to curbside mailboxes without getting out.
Re: USPS Awards Contract to Modernize Postal Delivery Vehicle Fleet
#50It's incredible how much flack this thing is getting...especially for its appearance. Clearly gone are the days when designers believed that form followed function. This vehicle was designed to maneuver closely around other objects like mailboxes, maximize cargo capacity, and keep the driver safe. The low hood gives the driver better visibility at the edge of the vehicle while still offering a crumple zone. I can't find any specs on the interior, but I'm betting cargo capacity has been improved...especially for larger packages, which is much more of USPS's delivery bulk in this decade.
Everything about this seems thoughtfully engineered, but clearly our design sensibilities these days are more oriented towards golden ratios than functionality.