The first mail truck ever produced was the Jeep DJ. It began production in 1955 and ended in 1984.
The Grumman LLV (Long Life Vehicle) was designed and released in the mid-1980s to serve as the backbone of U.S. Postal Service mail delivery. To select the winning design, the USPS conducted rigorous, multi-year testing that evaluated contenders on extreme durability across all terrains—from blistering desert heat to icy rural roads—and projected a 20- to 30-year service life under constant stop-and-go punishment. Grumman’s boxy, right-hand-drive aluminum van won the contract, entering production in 1987.
One deliberate omission in the original spec: air conditioning. Cost, weight, and fuel-economy targets kept cabins brutally hot in summer and freezing in winter, a trade-off carriers still endure today.
Despite the “Long Life” name, a design flaw has haunted the fleet. The windshield-washer reservoir was mounted directly above the engine control module. Leaks—common after decades of vibration and heat cycling—dripped fluid onto the electronics, short-circuiting the module and, in hundreds of documented cases, igniting fires. News reports of flaming LLVs parked at sorting facilities or smoldering curbside trace back to this single oversight.
To check out more about the design flaw of the Grumman LLV click here.
The replacement is the Oshkosh NGDV (Next Generation Delivery Vehicle), a modern, taller van with vastly improved ergonomics, crash protection, and—crucially—factory air conditioning. Oshkosh won the $6 billion contract in 2021, but full rollout remains years away as production ramps up at a new South Carolina plant.
A legal wrinkle delayed the green transition: the EPA sued to mandate an all-electric fleet, citing emissions rules. The USPS, however, operates on its own congressionally capped revenue (no tax dollars, no inter-agency bailouts) and simply lacks the budget for 100 % EVs. The compromise: a mixed fleet—mostly gasoline NGDVs with a smaller electric tranche for urban routes where charging infrastructure exists.
To find out more about whether the EPA got its way or not click here.
Until Oshkosh vans flood the streets, the Postal Service is bridging the gap with rebadged Mercedes-Benz Metris panel vans. The three-pointed star on the grille is swapped for a USPS eagle; otherwise, they’re stock commercial vehicles pressed into mail duty on suburban and urban routes.
The LLV, now pushing 40 years in some cases, soldiers on—leaky, hot, and occasionally fiery—while the future inches closer, one Metris at a time.