The Oshkosh NGDV Is Not the USPS’s First Electric Mail Truck
If you’ve been paying attention to what’s happening at the United States Postal Service, you likely know that the Grumman LLV is being retired. This iconic mail truck has served the agency for decades, but now it is time for something new. At first, it looked like the Oshkosh NGDV would be USPS’s 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 to electric vehicles?
In order to be more in line with the Biden administration, the USPS is converting a majority of its fleet to EV mail trucks. This process has not been without controversy because when the agency first put in an order for new delivery vehicles from Oshkosh, most of them were to have internal combustion engines.
After a lot of pushback at the state and federal levels, the USPS revised its order for the NGDV. This time, 45,000 Oshkosh NGDV trucks were ordered to be electric. And that is a significantly higher number than initially planned.
Ford is helping with USPS mail trucks
According to The Truth About Cars, the Oshkosh NGDV is not the only or first electric mail truck the Postal Service is getting. The USPS has decided to buy about 9,000 Ford E-Transits to help make deliveries. And that will help the agency meet its goal of adding at least 66,000 EVs to its fleet.
All this electrification does not come without growing pains, though. The Postal Service will need to add charging stations to its locations. That way, these vehicles have a place to charge when they are not out delivering the mail. Apparently, roughly 14,000 charging stations have been ordered from various suppliers.
The Ford E-Tansits will have a range of about 125 miles and are rear-wheel drive. That range might not seem like a lot. But most mail carriers have a route of about 24 miles. And nearly all routes are less than 70 miles. Because of that, transitioning to electric mail trucks does make sense. Postal employees can do their route, then return to home base to charge their USPS mail truck.
Is the Grumman LLV being retired?
After years of dedicated service, it’s almost time to say goodbye to the Grumman LLV. This mail truck is certainly getting on in years. And it was actually supposed to be out of service by now. However, this vehicle has been so solid that it is still delivering mail to millions of people on a daily basis.
If you want to buy a USPS mail truck, that might be good news for you. It’s highly possible that a lot of these trucks could pop up at auction. And while the Grumman LLV is not the most practical vehicle if you aren’t a mail carrier, it is a piece of automotive history. I think there’s something special about that. After all, the Postal Service is one of our oldest institutions here in the States.
