WOW those are cool. I'm excited to see the inevitable #vanlife conversions once civilians start getting their hands on them.
Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird
11–20 of 398 posts
Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird
#12Why have a specific design anyways? In both Sweden and Spain, the cars carrying mail is typically just a normal half-truck (not sure about the correct name) with the post office branding. Here are two examples: https://c8.alamy.com/comp/DA5TW8/yellow-correos-spanish-post... - https://st2.depositphotos.com/3982569/5739/i/950/depositphot... Seems to work fine. Packages gets carried in bigger trucks, but still just busi…
The name is a van or “panel van”
Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird
#13Why have a specific design anyways? In both Sweden and Spain, the cars carrying mail is typically just a normal half-truck (not sure about the correct name) with the post office branding. Here are two examples: https://c8.alamy.com/comp/DA5TW8/yellow-correos-spanish-post... - https://st2.depositphotos.com/3982569/5739/i/950/depositphot... Seems to work fine. Packages gets carried in bigger trucks, but still just busi…
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Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird
#14"Oddly-shaped mail trucks seem to be a staple of Americana." As a non-American I have always found this amusing. Here in New Zealand Post was until a few years ago delivered by bicycle in cities (SUVs or vans in rural areas). They have since moved towards small electric vehicles called Paxster. Basically large four wheel scooters that can ride on both the road and pavement. https://jobs.nzpost.co.nz/paxster
Based on those vehicles I am guessing NZPost doesn't handle the amount of junk mail and Amazon packages that USPS has to shuffle around.
Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird
#15No mention of increased crumple zone, which was probably the entire reason for the redesign in the first place? Sheesh. I assume the article was written entirely based on a press release together with a nice pack of product photos. The previous models were injury/death traps.
These vehicles rarely make it above 40mph and the drivers often don't use seat belts. Spending an extra hundred bucks per vehicle for a nice N-way adjustable seat or spending engineering hours making the seat-belts more convenient will have far greater benefits than throwing random safety technologies at it. The previous models were designed in the 1980s. All 1980s work vehicles are/were death traps by modern clipboa…
> These vehicles rarely make it above 40mph
That speed is quite deadly with zero crumple zone.
Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird
#16No mention of increased crumple zone, which was probably the entire reason for the redesign in the first place? Sheesh. I assume the article was written entirely based on a press release together with a nice pack of product photos. The previous models were injury/death traps.
These vehicles rarely make it above 40mph and the drivers often don't use seat belts. Spending an extra hundred bucks per vehicle for a nice N-way adjustable seat or spending engineering hours making the seat-belts more convenient will have far greater benefits than throwing random safety technologies at it. The previous models were designed in the 1980s. All 1980s work vehicles are/were death traps by modern clipboa…
> These vehicles rarely make it above 40mph and the drivers often don't use seat belts.
A crumple zone is going to still help in that case (40mph head on with another car at 40mph is significant, crumple zones in both vehicles would help both occupants).
Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird
#17Why have a specific design anyways? In both Sweden and Spain, the cars carrying mail is typically just a normal half-truck (not sure about the correct name) with the post office branding. Here are two examples: https://c8.alamy.com/comp/DA5TW8/yellow-correos-spanish-post... - https://st2.depositphotos.com/3982569/5739/i/950/depositphot... Seems to work fine. Packages gets carried in bigger trucks, but still just busi…
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Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird
#18I'm always in disbelief at the sheer volume of waste they deliver. I maybe get one meaningful or useful piece of paper a month, the rest is hundreds of pounds of paper, hauled by thousands of gallons of diesel fuel. How this organisation continues to exist in is current form is mind blowing. Nearly everything it hauls could be emailed.
And don't forget the cost to have trash trucks haul the thousands of pounds of waste away, also diesel powered.
Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird
#19Why have a specific design anyways? In both Sweden and Spain, the cars carrying mail is typically just a normal half-truck (not sure about the correct name) with the post office branding. Here are two examples: https://c8.alamy.com/comp/DA5TW8/yellow-correos-spanish-post... - https://st2.depositphotos.com/3982569/5739/i/950/depositphot... Seems to work fine. Packages gets carried in bigger trucks, but still just busi…
US mail trucks have the driver on the right hand side (as opposed to the left), so that they can deliver mail without having to get out of the driver's seat. Which naturally means we can't just reuse trucks made for the UK or other Commonwealth markets because... China or socialism or whatever.
Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird
#20[deleted]