All the cars need this to happen real badly. They’re all getting old as they were intended with a 24 year life cycle. Replacing the entire fleet would cost $ 4.2 billion. Is replacement the only option?
LLVs Postal Service
LLV stands for Long Life Cars and is the kind of truck the Postal Service uses. The trucks had a 24 year life cycle. That 24 year cycle is almost over. The Postal Service Inspector General has said that, over the next eight years, the Postal Service would spend a lot more repairing the autos than replacing them.
Price of repairing USPS autos
In fiscal year 2009, the U.S. Postal Service spent $ 524 million on LLV repair. Generally, repairing the automobiles instead of replacing them has been a good financial decision. The average repair bill for each LLV is about $ 5,600, with some repair bills going as high as $ 40,000. The cars don’t generally require specialized maintenance, though the right-handed driving setup can cause a lot more costly maintenance at times.
The LLV fleet being replaced
The cost comparison benefit of continuing to repair the LLV fleet is turning upside down. Within the next eight years, the postal service will really lose money if it repairs instead of replaces any autos that have a repair bill that cost a lot more than $ 3,500. It would cost $ 30,000 per truck for straight across replacement.
Automobile alternatives for US Postal service
The alternatives for U.S. Postal Service delivery cars are being heavily researched. The USPS has offered a $ 50,000 reward to five different firms for providing a working prototype of a USPS automobile by August. Letter carriers in numerous other areas are testing three-wheeled electric vehicles, bicycles, and also some more traditional minivan-style vehicles for delivering the mail, rain or shine.
