What’s a zany 80s vehicle that I would wager you’ve never driven, or been chauffeured around in, but have seen every day? I’ll give you a hint: it carries the crap you buy off Amazon. That’s right, the venerable mail truck. There are around 150,000 of these shoeboxes on wheels puttering around these United States so you might be surprised to learn that they were actually all built in the mid to late 80s, with a few being made into the early 90s. That’s right, they’ve been bringing Americans mail and packages since Reagan was in office. The Grumman Long Life Vehicle, or LLV for short, has lived an admittedly long life and its replacement was only announced yesterday, so I figured I’d give it the respect it deserves.
The LLV is based on a Chevy S10 pickup truck chassis and powered by the venerable GM Iron Duke four cylinder. While the little four banger produces an anemic 92 horsepower, it is incredibly reliable and long lasting which makes it a perfect fit for fleet applications. Coupled to a 3 speed low geared transmission, it’s just torquey enough to get parcels where they need to go and keep up with city traffic. Though, from what I’ve read, you wouldn’t want to take it on the highway. Its aerodynamic design (heavy sarcasm) makes high speed driving feel like tying a mattress to yourself and jumping off a building. It has absolutely no creature comforts or safety features: no AC, no anti lock brakes, no traction control, no radio, no nothing. Yet, mail carriers have grown attached to the spontaneously combusting aluminum beasts.
There is one other thing that sets them apart, the location of the steering wheel. Since mailboxes are usually located by the curb, the driver sits on the right, like in the UK. Pretty cool, eh?
I really enjoyed reading your post. I am not too much of a car enthusiast, but you certainly kept me engaged! I could really hear your passion and enjoyment throughout this post. The informal, humorous tone that you took on really kept my attention. I felt like you gave me the information about the vehicle in a way that both taught me more about the vehicle and kept it interesting and engaging.
I knew that the mail trucks were pretty old, but I did not realize quite how old they were. Throughout the first paragraph, you had me wondering why the US Postal Service would continue to utilize such an old vehicle, but your explanation of their reliability for fleet applications clarifies this in the second paragraph. However, I still do not think that it would be my vehicle of choice. After the beginning of the Fall semester here at Penn State without air conditioning, I have a greater appreciation of how nice AC can be!