CNet:
It's going to be awhile longer before the US Postal Service receives new mail delivery vehicles. The USPS has reportedly once again delayed its ongoing proposal process because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Trucks.com first reported the delay on Tuesday after the request for proposal period was supposed to end on March 27. Now, the service's latest filing pegs July 14 as the final date. A handful of companies have already provided prototype next-generation mail delivery vehicles in hopes of receiving a multibillion-dollar contract for the business.
The update is meant to introduce 200,000 replacement vehicles that incorporate electrification.
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US Postal Service Delays Next-Generation Delivery Vehicles -- Again
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(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2020, @06:28PM (3 children)
They probably haven't finished figuring out how to get around the USPS's mandates and shaft American workers with this new paradigm.
If Diane Feinstein is involved you can bet that a ton of money will be flowing to China and her husband will take his cut.
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2020, @06:30PM (2 children)
#MAGALERT
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2020, @08:00PM (1 child)
Rent free.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2020, @08:23PM
Mango Mussolini charges you quite a bit to keep sucking him off, I guess for this admin you waived the fiscally conservative portion of your sexual preferences questionnaire.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2020, @06:53PM (9 children)
* The first link to cnet is about a demonstration of autonomous long haul trucking (still diesel as far as I could see).
* The rest if TFS is about a replacement for the local delivery vehicles with some electrification.
The only things these have in common are mail and Post Office. Completely different kinds of vehicles!!
From the trucks.com link,
These look like they have more than lived up to expectations -- average life about 28 years, past the original design life and pretty good for a Chevy S-10 chassis. Looks like the US Gov't did OK when they chose this design, but now failures are common. Here'a a previous link with a progress report from fall 2019,
https://www.trucks.com/2019/09/03/postal-service-delays-new-mail-truck-contract/ [trucks.com]
Fun fact -- delivery service like this with many stops-starts is hell on tire life. Don't have a handy link, but have heard that 12,000 miles is about it for these special, heavy duty tires. Normal light truck tires don't last nearly that long in postal delivery service.
Tire life is highly dependent on the amount of "slip" (higher acceleration, drive-brake and turning) and is highly nonlinear. Most of the time I lift long before a red light, avoiding hard braking. Also, I usually wait until I'm going straight after a turn before accelerating away. My SO is more "normal", brakes medium hard when near the light, accelerates as she straightens the wheel. My tires outlast hers almost 2:1, with similar size/weight cars.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2020, @07:52PM (4 children)
All this "big data" is an obamanation but there is once piece of entirely good tech that really does save lives and resources. An instantaneous fuel consumption meter makes people ease up on the accelerator just by letting them know exactly what the cost of their choices are. If they made them smart enough to show the cost in dollars per hour instead of miles per gallon it would work even better.
Then make one that calculates the cost of your hard braking and we'd have better drivers overnight......
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2020, @08:01PM
#MAGALERT #EDUMACATION #ECOMONY
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2020, @08:44PM
If driving were all about AtoB or the above levels of effective tyre and fuel use, then bring on the jonny cabs and be done with it. Personally , the joy of driving is all about that gas guzzling corner done well not cheap (no spinning wheels or hooliganism, honest orifficer). But then driving is not my job.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday May 15 2020, @10:58PM
is "obamanaton" a Freudian slip? [wikipedia.org]
did you mean abomination? [merriam-webster.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Saturday May 16 2020, @02:27AM
Nice try, but BMWs have had those since 1981.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday May 15 2020, @09:24PM
Those links are from TFA. They were included in TFS as-is.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Sunday May 17 2020, @04:28AM (2 children)
Why not outsource it and get something like a Paxster [paxster.no]? We've been using these here for years for all our mail delivery, they're great little vehicles.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 17 2020, @11:44AM (1 child)
I'm sure that Paxster could bid for the USPS contract. But I think they would lose because the vehicle doesn't meet US motor vehicle regulations. Also, USA has lots of suburbs with longer routes, not just city and rural, so the task may be different?
(Score: 2) by driverless on Sunday May 17 2020, @12:48PM
Oh, sure, they're only used in cities, or at least places with a decent enough population density to make it worthwhile, it's an 80:20 solution. Not sure how they dealt with the road regulations, possibly they're classed as mobility scooters or something. I'm pretty sure a law change wasn't required, they fit within existing regulations.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday May 15 2020, @08:06PM
That long haul Dallas to Phoenix run seems tailor made for rail delivery, not truck delivery. Rail is more efficient, and self steering.
As drives go, it's pretty easy. I've run that route a time or two. The lowest crossings of the Continental Divide in the US are in that area. Only 4500 ft. Traffic is relatively light, thanks to it being mostly desert and thus lightly populated.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2020, @08:39PM (2 children)
With Trump trying to destroy the USPS they have to keep their war chest as full as possible. Truly the worst president ever, but the dream prez of all ANCAPS. I wonder if this gives even TMB a pause, or if he's full bore CORPORATE EFFICIENCY WILL SAVE US??
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2020, @09:19PM
Ooooh, downmods for criticizing the Anus In Chief? Sweet deplorable tears of sadness!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 16 2020, @03:23PM
If Sleazy Don destroys the USPS how is he going to send out all those letters asking for donations?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by richtopia on Friday May 15 2020, @09:52PM (5 children)
The current postal truck is the Grumman Long Life Vehicle, built specifically to last. And it has done really well, with many units outliving the specified lifespan of 24 (extended to 30) years. If the objective is to build another long-life vehicle, you really need to look at electric. Industry experts predict 500000 - 1M mile vehicles to become more standard thanks to the simplicity of the electric drive train.
However, the USPS has a very diverse use case. They should not find a one-size-fits-all vehicle, as the deliver both to suburban Arizona and to rural Alaska. My comments on a pure electric vehicle really stress this; an electric vehicle can do urban routes well but clearly cannot meet rural applications on one charge. It looks like one of the contenders for the design contest is a plug-in hybrid, which seems the most practical if they need a one-size fits all. Although, plug-in hybrid kills my earlier comments about simplicity as you now effectively have two drive trains.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday May 15 2020, @11:13PM
plug-in doesn't mean hybrid.
hybrids don't have to have 'two drive trains', as the electric motors can be inline with the fuel burning engine, either before or after the gearbox.
With containerized/module based loading, one truck or train could do the 'long haul' and a smaller mid range or light duty truck (like this [youtube.com]) for the 'local' distribution.
Freight shouldn't be this hard
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 16 2020, @03:28AM (3 children)
> ... an electric vehicle can do urban routes well but clearly cannot meet rural applications on one charge.
Citation please? A quick search suggests that the longest routes take 6-ish hours. With stops, it's hard to believe that the average speed on rural roads could be over 30 miles/hour(?) which means 180 miles. Less than 200 miles/day which could be met by a Chevy Bolt in all but the coldest weather.
It will be interesting to see what the bidders offer the USPS, and eventually what is purchased.
Going back a couple of generations before the current Grumman/Chevy vehicles, does anyone else remember the little tricycle Mailster?
https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/car-of-the-week/car-of-the-week-1963-westcoaster-mailster [oldcarsweekly.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 16 2020, @05:23PM (2 children)
You'd need the infrastructure to recharge all of your vehicles every day. Not hard if you have a couple, but if your whole fleet moves that direction, you'll need to put in a lot more chargers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 17 2020, @06:24AM (1 child)
They have to park them somewhere at night.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 17 2020, @11:47AM
Yes they have to park them somewhere at night...but it may be rare to have an electric power substation conveniently next to the Post Office parking lot?