Oshkosh Corp. to build USPS mail vehicles
‘Next generation’ to be low emission or electric
OSHKOSH – The U.S. Postal Service has awarded a multibillion-dollar contract to Oshkosh Corp. to build up to 165,000 “next generation” delivery vehicles over the course of the next decade, the agency announced Tuesday.
In August, Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corp., was one of five finalists for the contract to produce 50 prototype mail vehicles that could replace its aging fleet and use new technology and hybrid and alternative fuel sources.
Under the new contract, the Postal Service will pay Oshkosh Defense $482 million to finalize the production design and equip factories for production of 50,000 to 165,000 delivery vehicles.
“This is a huge day for us. It’s a really great day, an exciting day for us as a company,” said John Pfeifer, president and chief operating officer of Oshkosh Corp. Pfeifer will become CEO in April after current CEO Wilson Jones’ retirement.
A news release from Oshkosh Corp. on Tuesday said the contract marks the Postal Service’s first large-scale fleet purchase in three decades. According to the service, many of its current 190,000 mail delivery vehicles have been in service for 30 years.
Oshkosh Corp. has not yet decided where in the U.S. the new vehicles will be produced, but it expects to make that announcement this year. The goal when it comes to deciding location is to be logistically efficient in supplying the vehicles to the Postal Service, Pfeifer said.
“When you talk about building 50,000 to 165,000 units over a long period of time — this is a contract in the multi-billions — you kind of need a standalone facility to be able to do work like that. You can’t just stuff it into an existing facility,” he said.
Oshkosh Corp. expects to hire more people in the U.S. to fulfill the contract.
“And we do all the development work right here in Wisconsin,” Pfeifer said. “We’ve got global technology centers here, other product development centers here, that have been doing a lot of work for development at this point in time. Those are all great jobs. We’ll continue to do that work here. It’s great for our community.”
Oshkosh Defense will begin to produce the vehicle in the second half of 2023, Pfeifer said, and the Postal Service said in a news release the vehicles could appear on carrier routes that year. The new fleet will include zero-emission battery vehicles as well as fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicles.
“We’ve been working on electrification for a long time,” Pfeifer said, noting its development of a fully electric aerial work platform on the market, as well as a prototype concrete mixer.
Pfeifer said the starting ratio between electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles has yet to be determined, and it’s up to the Postal Service to decide. There may be some places, like rural communities or mountainous terrain, where the trucks can’t be charged on their route.
“That’s the why you have a need for low-emission internal combustion engines for some applications,” he said. “I’m guessing that electrified product will grow over time, but electrification will be a big, big part of this fleet that we deliver over the next 10 years.”
Dubbed by the Postal Service as next generation delivery vehicles, they will also feature 360-degree cameras and a collision avoidance system with visual and audio warnings and automatic braking, according to the agency.
They will hold more cargo, which the Postal Service says will help them handle higher package volumes because of the growth in online sales.