U.S. Postal Service Delays New Mail Truck Choice to 2020
The new mail trucks would take over delivery duties from the boxy white trucks familiar to most Americans.
Those 140,000 trucks — formally known as Grumman Long Life Vehicles — need replacement. They lack essential functions such as air conditioning, airbags or anti-lock brakes. They are too small to accommodate the e-commerce packages that make up the bulk of the mail today. With an average age of about 28 years, they are past their expected life span.
The mail trucks are so old the Postal Service has trouble recruiting automotive techs who know how to fix them. Grumman built them from 1987 through 1994.
Assuming that the Workhorse EV entry described below can have its battery packs and charging systems upgraded as technology advances, they should save vast amounts of money in operation and maintenance. I have no idea what rules are going to be used for the cost-benefit analysis. I do know that the malign influence of Republicans has generally distorted all government purchasing in favor of large incumbents. In this case, with no sales in this space by anyone for 28 years, they seem to have shot all of their donors in the tires.
Well, OK, I do know something about how the rules work, in a general way: Badly.
Republicans in Congress hate government that works, and especially Amtrak and the USPS.
USPS Statement on Next Generation Delivery Vehicles Prototype Selection and Request for Proposal for Commercial Off-the-Shelf Delivery Vehicles
The United States Postal Service (USPS) publicly began the Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV) acquisition program in January 2015 with a Request for Information (RFI) and kick-off meeting open to all interested technology and automotive suppliers to respond and participate. The robust and open process was designed to attract the most innovative and cutting edge technological solutions.
Following a review of the responses to the RFI, 15 suppliers were determined to be prequalified to submit proposals to develop NGDV prototypes. A Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued in October 2015 which included a statement of objectives in response to feedback received from the supplier community and other stakeholders. As part of the process, the potential suppliers were given access to our processing and delivery environment and employees, and then asked to submit proposals that represented their design conclusions concerning the delivery vehicles that would best meet USPS’s organizational needs. Potential suppliers were allowed to submit multiple proposals for consideration.
After a rigorous evaluation process, the Postal Service today awarded contracts to six prime suppliers who together will produce 50 prototype vehicles as part of the next phase of the NGDV acquisition process.
The six selected suppliers include AM General, Karsan, Mahindra, Oshkosh, Utilimaster, and VT Hackney and the contract awards are valued at $37.4 million. The suppliers also have the discretion to team or subcontract with additional suppliers, and it is anticipated some will do so to develop the finished prototypes.
Half of the prototypes will feature hybrid and new technologies, including alternative fuel capabilities. The prototypes will represent a variety of vehicle sizes and drive configurations, in addition to advanced powertrains and a range of hybrid technologies.
No, you can't buy high tech on a five year acquisition cycle. We of the profession, that is, the market analysis business, used to say
Anything you can buy is necessarily obsolete.
but this is ridiculous.
Anyway, we have four prospective bidders left:
- Workhorse: battery electric (Yay!!)
- Turkey-based Karsan: plug-in hybrid (OK)
- Mahindra Automotive North America: gas or hybrid (Meh)
- Oshkosh Corp.: ICE (Boooo!! Hiss!! But USPS insisted.)
So let's take a closer look at them.
Workhorse C1000 Specifications
- Low-Floor
- Modular Battery Packs
- 6,000 lbs empty & 6,000 lb payload
- Air Springs
- Independent Rear & Front Suspension
- Thermal Battery Management
- Flexible Shelving Options
- Excellent Driver Sightlines
- LED Lighting
- Telematics / Driver Feedback
- Designed for Ease of Maintenance
- Aerodynamic Body & Never- Rust Frame
- Advanced Safety Systems
- Multi-Configurations
Workhorse Group Forms Alliance with Duke Energy to Support Faster Adoption and Scaling of Fleet Electrification
Yes, even Duke is evolving.
Karsan USA
Postal Service Testing Karsan Plug-in Hybrid Mail Truck
Photo above.
Photos taken by Trucks.com last week show that the prototype that Karsan is building with team member Morgan Olson is a plug-in hybrid. There are ports on two sides of the truck. One on the right side of the vehicle over the front wheel looks to be for electricity. There’s a conventional gasoline port above the left rear wheel.
Karsan will provide the hybrid technology. Morgan Olson, a Sturgis, Mich.-based manufacturer of walk-in vans that has a longstanding relationship with USPS, will manufacture the body. Karsan has designed and built more than 277,000 gas and electric cars as well as specialty automobiles in Europe.
Mahindra Automotive North America is fast becoming a beacon for the design and engineering of rugged 21st century vehicles.
Being the first automotive manufacturing OEM to launch in Southeast Michigan in over a quarter century comes with high expectations, and at Mahindra Automotive North America we are working daily to exceed them. The North American headquarters of the $20.7B Mahindra Group’s automotive branch, MANA was conceived in 2017 to engrain Mahindra’s rugged, work-proven automotive heritage in vehicles fit for the world’s toughest roads. Led by an expert team of designers and engineers selected from today’s most innovative and highest performing organizations (Tesla, Ford, Boeing and Apple, among others), MANA’s birth came just 4 years after its initial inception as the engineering studio Mahindra North American Technical Center. MANA’s swift ascension to full-fledged OEM is the result of its impeccable record for designing and delivering original, high-quality vehicles across continents and market sectors. Building this record into a new American automotive legacy is the goal driving us into the future.
The utility of Mahindra’s commercial vehicles, so recognized by Indians, may soon be evidenced abroad. Taking note of our commitment to quality and history of manufacturing right-hand drive vehicles, the United States Postal Service recently named Mahindra as one of the select few automakers in contention to win a contract to produce USPS vehicles over a five-year span.
Spy Shots: Mahindra’s U.S. Postal Service Mail Truck Prototype Spotted
The Mahindra truck offers the option of gasoline or mild-hybrid powertrains, according to a recent National Highway Transportation Safety Administration filing by Mahindra North American Technical Center Inc.
The truck will be powered by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine made by General Motors— possibly the same engine in the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks. In those vehicles the engine makes 200 horsepower and 191 pound-feet of torque.
Some versions of the Mahindra truck will have a mild hybrid system, according to the filing. GM currently produces a mild hybrid system called eAssist on the same 2.5-liter engine that is standard on the 2018 Buick LaCrosse.
Currently Mahindra sells tractors and utility vehicles in the U.S. and operates the Mahindra North American Technical Center production facilities in Troy, Mich.
