Quote:
Originally Posted by brucepick
Wow. Those "LLVs" aren't that big - the USPS certainly could use something that gets better mpg. I can't imagine that they're locked into those mini-Jeeps forever. With a gazillion of those things delivering mail every day,
there's a real opportunity to save some serious money.
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I can attest that any vehicle when doing mail delivery driving will get horrid gas mileage. When i started work at the USPS, I used to use my personal vehicle, a Ford Escort
Wagon for Rural route delivery. I would get 17-19 mpg during work hours and 23-27 mpg during normal drive time.
USPS has the worlds largest fleet of vehicles, and most of them are well over 10 years old, but due to the current financial situation we are in, I don't suspect any type of upgrade or replacement will be taken into account, other than the upcoming onboard cameras and GPS that is being pilot programmed right now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brucepick
The brown truck company is testing and using several kinds of alternatives. I think they have both hybrid trucks (much bigger than LLVs of course) and some natural gas too. Plus they've done computer studies to optimize their routes to minimize fuel consumption and maximize safety - mostly by nearly eliminating left turns in their routes.
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We have similar route plans too - little to no left turns, and extreme discouragement to drive in reverse.