Some 200,000 mail carriers have reached a tentative contract deal with the U.S. Postal Service that includes backdated pay raises and a promise to provide workers with air-conditioned trucks.
The new agreement, which still needs to be ratified by union members, runs through November 2026. Letter carriers have been working without a new contract since their old one expired in May 2023. Since then they have continued working under the terms of the old contract.
Both the union and the Postal Service welcomed the agreement, which was announced Friday.
Sure, the new trucks look like a Dollar Store version of the Beluga cargo plane but I don’t care. They don’t require 57 mirrors, have backup cameras, are much more fuel efficient, have A/C, the list goes on! Even the new Metris is a million times better than any LLV or FFV simply for the lack of exhaust you end up breathing.
The requirements shaped the design. They wanted mail carriers to be able to stand up in the cargo area without having to bend over → tall cargo area and tall doors. High visibility → a large windshield. Along with the options of a BEV or ICE powertrain → duckbill front.
Personally, I think it’s iconic and obviously less of a deathtrap vs the current vehicles.
I really like the look of them. Quirky but functional. I’d love to have one to turn into a camper, since I don’t think the ID.Buzz is getting the Westfalia treatment.
Not going to happen in your lifetime… they are already trying to figure out how to get rid of the LLV during the phase out stage where people won’t be able to reuse them on the secondary market and impersonate postal workers.
If it’s ugly and gets the job done well, it gets the job done well.
Why no sit/stand trucks?
We should have the technology to make a safe sit/stand mail truck. Especially when most of the route is < 15MPH.
Mail carriers, at least the ones in rural routes and some of the more sparse suburbs, spend a lot of time sitting. That can’t be good for them. Even just having the option to stand while working should be doable.
And they aren’t the only ones who could find a benefit to such a design…any sort of last-mile delivery service. Mail, newspaper, milk, packages, etc. Anybody who is either getting in and out frequently or is maintaining a very low speed through most of their route.