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Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

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Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#31

Post by marcinzm »

diggan wrote: post #10

Why 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 same reason Amazon runs its own shipping network instead of relying on UPS or Fedex. At a certain scale it is cheaper to get a custom option that specifically fits your needs rather than retro-fitting something else. The USPS bought 100,000 of the last truck and, for example, one of the requirements was long service life. Building a truck you can use for 30 years is probably much cheaper than buying multiple lower service life trucks over that period.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#32

Post by gambiting »

lisper wrote: post #23
meepmorp wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

TFA actually explains all this pretty well: "The requirements dictated the step-in height, the glass height (including the low side glass), the vision angles, the internal height, and the maximum roof height," wrote Kahn in a tweet. "That was all locked in." Other constraints included the ability to reach the mailbox while in the seated position, and the requirement to see the ground around the vehicle...

The true marvel about all of this is how somehow every other country in the world manages just fine without these requirements.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#33

Post by maxerickson »

lisper wrote: post #23
meepmorp wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

TFA actually explains all this pretty well: "The requirements dictated the step-in height, the glass height (including the low side glass), the vision angles, the internal height, and the maximum roof height," wrote Kahn in a tweet. "That was all locked in." Other constraints included the ability to reach the mailbox while in the seated position, and the requirement to see the ground around the vehicle...

And the requirements are dictated by what?

It certainly sounds reasonable to have an enclosed cargo area with sufficient head room for comfort, but saying they look like they do because there are requirements doesn't really explain it.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#34

Post by meepmorp »

lisper wrote: post #23
meepmorp wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

TFA actually explains all this pretty well: "The requirements dictated the step-in height, the glass height (including the low side glass), the vision angles, the internal height, and the maximum roof height," wrote Kahn in a tweet. "That was all locked in." Other constraints included the ability to reach the mailbox while in the seated position, and the requirement to see the ground around the vehicle...

I saw that, but those constraints don't seem to be necessary for postal vehicles in other countries. The person I was responding to was wondering why other countries seem to just fine with regular looking vans that have postal branding. It's worth asking about, isn't it?

Just because those things are spec'd as they are, that doesn't mean they need to be.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#35

Post by tpmx »

meepmorp wrote: post #19
diggan wrote: post #10

Why 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.

"Opposite-driven" postal vehicles have been common/standard in Europe for a very long time. It's not a complex thing to change, especially since many car models are made to be sold in e.g. the UK anyways.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#36

Post by pilsetnieks »

lisper wrote: post #23
meepmorp wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

TFA actually explains all this pretty well: "The requirements dictated the step-in height, the glass height (including the low side glass), the vision angles, the internal height, and the maximum roof height," wrote Kahn in a tweet. "That was all locked in." Other constraints included the ability to reach the mailbox while in the seated position, and the requirement to see the ground around the vehicle...

The article (and your comment) explains how the design conforms to the constraints but what I think they were asking was why have those specific constraints in the first place (apart from "that's how it's always been done here.")

Now, I understand that it's to prevent accidents, make it more easy to put mail into mailboxes if they're situated right next to the road, etc. Yet somehow every other country makes it work without specialized vehicles.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#37

Post by chrisseaton »

marcinzm wrote: post #31
diggan wrote: post #10

Why 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 same reason Amazon runs its own shipping network instead of relying on UPS or Fedex. At a certain scale it is cheaper to get a custom option that specifically fits your needs rather than retro-fitting something else. The USPS bought 100,000 of the last truck and, for example, one of the requirements was long service life. Building a truck you can use for 30 years is probably much cheaper than buying multiple lowe…

> The same reason Amazon runs its own shipping network instead of relying on UPS or Fedex.

Amazon use off-the-shelf vehicles though.

> one of the requirements was long service life

I wonder how they require that. Does the manufacturer have to warranty them all for 30 years? That's extraordinary!

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#39

Post by xxpor »

BadInformatics wrote: post #29
diggan wrote: post #10

Why 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…

Same with Canada Post AIUI. How often does the right-hand driver's seat thing come into play? Seems like the procurement for this kind of custom vehicle couldn't/won't be cheap.

I'd wager ~75% of mailboxes are delivered to with a RHD vehicle. So it matters a lot.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#40

Post by Ericson2314 »

jerf wrote: post #24
Robotbeat wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too bad it’s not higher. But that’s a good start. It’s a clear win for a well-engineered electric drivetrain given the low miles typically traveled per day (BUT high total miles on odometers as they’re made to last decades), typically low speeds, and extensive stop and start. Playing almost entirely to electric’s strengths and the weaknesses of internal combustion. In an ideal world, I’d hope it’d be 50% electric and…

I can't imagine more than a handful of post offices are ready to plug in all of their trucks right now. They're almost all going to need power upgrades.

Well, that should be part of the plan too. We're making ourselves poorer half-assing everything.
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