Grumman LLV
The Grumman Long Life Vehicle (LLV) is an American light transport truck model, designed as a mail truck for the United States Postal Service, which has been its primary user since it first entered service in 1987, . It also was used by Canada Post. The LLV uses a chassis built by GM based on the S-10 with an aluminum body built by Grumman. In 2021, after a long competition, the USPS announced it had awarded a $6 billion contract to Oshkosh Defense to produce the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle, which will replace the LLV. In February 2023, the USPS announced the purchase of 9,250 each of stock Ford E-Transit vans and Stellantis gasoline-powered vans. , the first custom NGDVs were scheduled to enter service in June 2024, nine months after the original October 2023 target date. History In the United States, the Grumman LLV is the most common vehicle used by letter carriers for curbside and residential delivery of mail, replacing the previous standard letter-carrier vehicle, the Jeep DJ-5. Curbside delivery from a driver seated in a vehicle to a curbside mailbox is sometimes termed "mounted delivery", in contrast to walking delivery. The Grumman LLV was the first vehicle specifically designed for the United States Postal Service (USPS); the USPS provided a specification and three teams created prototypes that were tested in Laredo, Texas in 1985: Grumman in partnership with General Motors, Poveco (a joint venture of Fruehauf and General Automotive Corporation), and American Motors Corporation. The main design points of the vehicle in contract competition were serviceability, handling in confined areas, and overall economical operation. Prototypes were each subjected to a road test, including frequent starts and stops, gravel surfaces, cobblestones and potholes, hauling a payload of up to . Previously, Grumman had built a limited number of KurbWatts, a battery electric vehicle with an aluminum delivery van body, which was tested by the USPS in the early 1980s. At about the same time, Grumman also built 500 KubVans, which used a similar lightweight aluminum delivery body on a Volkswagen Pickup diesel chassis and also underwent testing by the USPS. These designs influenced Grumman's candidate body design for the LLV. Grumman won the competition and was awarded a $1.1 billion contract to produce 99,150 LLVs in April 1986; USPS also held an option for an additional 54,000 LLVs. Production The vehicles were assembled by the Allied Division of Grumman in Clinton Township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. The first vehicle was completed in April 1987. At peak production, 95 LLVs were completed each day, at a rate of approximately one every five minutes. Grumman invested $28 million into the factory, doubling its size to and increasing the workforce from 250 to 600. The USPS purchased more than 100,000 of these vehicles, the last one in 1994. As its name suggests, the Grumman LLV is easily capable of a long life. The required lifespan specified by the U.S. Postal Service was 24 years, but in 2009 this was extended to