WI Company Wins Multibillion Contract For Postal Service Vehicles

OSHKOSH, WI — The United States Postal Service chose a Wisconsin-based defense contractor to manufacture its new fleet of delivery vehicles over the next decade in a multibillion-dollar contract.

The design still needs to be finalized, but Oshkosh Defense is slated to assemble anywhere from 50,000 to 165,000 of the service’s new vehicles, according to a statement from the Postal Service. This marks the first major update to the Postal Service’s fleet in 30 years.

The current box-shaped mail trucks were first produced in 1987 by now-defunct Grumman Aerospace Corp. Known as the Grumman Long Life Vehicles, the trucks are slow, lack air conditioning and are prone to catching fire, according to a report from Vice News.

The Postal Service said the new vehicles will come either with a fuel-efficient gas engine or be entirely electric powered. All will be equipped with air conditioning, heating, a collision-avoidance system and cameras. The vehicles will also hold more cargo than the Grumman trucks.

“The [next-generation delivery vehicle] program expands our capacity for handling more package volume and supports our carriers with cleaner and more efficient technologies, more amenities and greater comfort and security as they deliver every day on behalf of the American people,” Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in a statement.

More than 230,000 vehicles are currently a part of the Postal Service fleet, with roughly 190,000 used to deliver mail six to seven days a week, according to the service.