- The Postal Service has once more delayed the awarding of a contract for the alternative for its Grumman LLV.
- The USPS has been on the lookout for an organization to award a greater than $6 billion contract to since 2015.
- The Grumman LLVs nonetheless in operation price round $3000 a yr to maintain working.
The U.S. Postal Service has been trying to find a alternative for its legendary, if deteriorating, Grumman Lengthy Life Autos for over half a decade now. The choice of which firm can be awarded the contract to interchange these vehicles was slated to occur on the finish of this yr, however as is the modus operandi of 2020, these plans modified. That contract might be introduced early subsequent yr, the USPS has introduced.
It’s not the primary time the awarding of the contract has been delayed, and now, based on Vans.com, there are solely three remaining firms bidding for the contract to interchange the USPS vehicles. These embrace Workhorse, an Ohio-based startup which is the one firm providing an all-electric choice; Karsan, a Turkey-based firm with a plug-in hybrid design for the truck, and Oshkosh, which is predicated in Wisconsin and has supplied an internal-combustion-engined automobile.
“Amid persevering with COVID-19 issues, and with the intention to present for capital funding actions and required approvals, this system schedule has been revised and a call is now deliberate for (January to March 2021),” an announcement from the USPS learn.
Protecting these Grummans in operation isn’t low-cost for the USPS. They have been supposed to have 24-year life spans. However, since they have been manufactured between 1987 and 1994, all have surpassed that age. A 2014 report from the USPS Workplace of the Inspector Basic discovered that every automobile prices roughly $3000 to maintain in service annually. Couple that with vehicles that return 10 mpg, and you’ve got autos that desperately should be changed.
And despite the fact that the USPS can maintain sufficient working, at present round 140,000, to ship mail, among the vehicles are discovering their manner into irreparable issues. Final yr, Vans.com found that within the 5 years prior, 120 of the Grumman LLVs had lit on hearth –and there’s no concept as to why it has been taking place.
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