The United States Postal Service is gearing up to replace as many as 180,000 vehicles in it’s aged fleet, and the contract could potentially be worth billions to the automaker who secures it. Each new fleet vehicle will cost in the range of $25,000 to $35,00, meaning an overall contract worth $4.5 to $6.3 billion.
According to the Request for Information, “Most of the [vehicles] are near or beyond their design useful life, and the USPS intends to retire this fleet in the coming years and to replace them with next-generation delivery vehicles. [They] are expected to share some design similarities with the current [vehicles] — but they will also need to incorporate changes to accommodate new market projections for mail and package delivery volumes.”
The new vehicles will have a 20-year lifespan and up to 150,000 miles. Currently, the fleet vehicles hit about 5,000 miles a year. Delivery of the new fleet vehicles is expected to begin by January 2018 at the very latest.