USPS' new mail truck makes its debut to rave reviews from carriers

ATHENS, Ga. - The first handful of Next Generation Delivery Vehicles rolled onto postal routes in August in Athens, Georgia and are now getting rave reviews from letter carriers accustomed to the older vehicles that lacked modern safety features.

According to USPS, safety features in the new trucks include airbags, a 360-degree camera, automatic emergency braking and collision avoidance systems. The cab area also has air conditioning and a seat with adjustable lumbar support.

All of these features were missing on the Grumman Long Life Vehicle, which has been used since 1987. While the vehicle has outlasted its projected 25-year lifespan, it was well overdue for replacement.

"I promise you, it felt like heaven blowing in my face," postal worker Avis Stonum told The Associated Press of her first experience working in an air-conditioned truck.

Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) is displayed during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 5, 2023. (Credit: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Richard Burton, another driver, said he appreciated the larger payload area, which can accommodate bigger packages, and the fact that he doesn't have to crouch, helping him avoid back pain. 

Brian Renfroe, the president of the National Letter Carriers Association, said union members are enthusiastic about the new vehicles, crediting Postmaster General Louis DeJoy with bringing a sense of urgency to get them into production.

"We’re excited now to be at the point where they’re starting to hit the streets," Renfroe said.

By 2028, the fleet will have expanded to more than 66,000, most of them electric models, serving as the Postal Service’s primary delivery truck from Maine to Hawaii.

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Previously, environmentalists were outraged when DeJoy announced that 90% of the next-gen vehicles in the first order would be gas-powered. 

This led to the filing of lawsuits demanding that the Postal Service further electrify its fleet to reduce tailpipe emissions.

The problem, Dejoy said, wasn’t that he didn’t want electric vehicles. Rather, the expense of the vehicles, compounded by the costs of installing thousands of charging stations and upgrading electrical service, made them unaffordable at a time when the agency was reporting big operating deficits every quarter.

However, he found a way to further boost the number of electric vehicles when he met with President Joe Biden’s top environmental adviser, John Podesta. That led to a deal in which the government provided $3 billion to the Postal Service, with part of it earmarked for electric charging stations.

Between the addition of electric vehicles, reduced tailpipe emissions from optimized mail routes and other changes, the agency anticipates cutting carbon emissions by 40% by 2030, DeJoy said. The route revisions will also save money.