Oshkosh Corp. among finalists for mail trucks
Six-year $6.3B contract upgrades aged USPS fleet
Oshkosh Corp. is reportedly among five finalists in the running for a $6.3 billion U.S. Postal Service contract to produce a fleet of next-generation mail delivery trucks.
According to a statement on the USPS website, the agency awarded $37.4 million in contracts in September 2016 to six suppliers, including Oshkosh Corp., to produce 50 prototype mail vehicles. The finalists can work with other suppliers to create models featuring new technology and hybrid and alternative fuel variants.
These are the five finalists reportedly vying for the six-year USPS contract. That contract also allows the winner to supply parts for the Postal Service for 20 years:
Mahindra
Oshkosh Corp. and its partner Ford
Motor Co.
AM General
Karsan Otomotiv and its partner Morgan Olson of Sturgis.
VT Hackney Inc. and its partner Workhorse.
Oshkosh Corp. is working with Ford on at least one prototype of the truck based on Ford’s Transit cargo van, reports state. A Ford spokesman declined to comment on where the USPS trucks would be built if Oshkosh gets the contact, referring the Detroit Free Press to Oshkosh Corp. A request to the company was not answered.
A spokeswoman for the USPS said in an email to the Free Press that testing was completed in March for the five prototype trucks. The choice is expected to be announced later this year.
The spokeswoman declined to comment on the contract value or whether the contract is winner-take-all or might be divvied up among suppliers.