U.S.P.S. 'Long Life' Vehicles Last 25 Years, But Age Shows Now

Snow, rain, heat, and gloom of night may not keep U.S. Postal Service mail carriers from their rounds, but their trucks are another story.

After more than 25 years in service, the current "Long Life Vehicle" mail trucks have certainly lived up to their name, but the miles are starting to show.

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With repair costs rising, the Postal Service is seeking bids for a new vehicle that will be better suited to the job and return better fuel economy.

The contract for the next-generation mail truck could be one of the most lucrative of its kind in recent memory, according to industry trade journal Automotive News (subscription required).

While fleet sales usually aren't very profitable, the Postal Service plans to place a big order.

Specifications released to bidders on January 20 call for 180,000 new vehicles at $25,000 to $35,000 apiece--valuing the contract at $4.5 billion to $6.3 billion.

The vehicles they'll replace are becoming increasingly expensive to operate and maintain.

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The current Long Life Vehicle was built by aircraft manufacturer Grumman, now part of Northrup Grumman.

With its boxy aluminum body and General Motors-derived chassis and four-cylinder engine, the little truck doesn't cut quite as heroic a profile as the fighter planes Grumman built before this brief foray into cars.

It also has a few design flaws that have become apparent over the years.

Exhaust systems are easily scraped on curbs, and mail falls into crevices in the cabin.

In real-world use, the vehicles often struggle to return their rated 16 mpg. The current fleet consumes as much as 154 million gallons of gasoline annually.