US Government Employee: “Okay, awesome. So that’s a solid contract for the Lunar Lander for NASA. Great doing business with you.”
Northrop Grumman salesman: “Yeah, sure, happy to help us win the space race against the Soviets!”
Gov Employee: “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go figure out who we’re going to get to build a stealth bomber for the Air Force.”
Grumman: “Oh, we can do that too!”
Gov Employee: “Whoa, really? Thanks, that really makes the rest of the week easier. I appreciate it! Now all I need to do is find someone to make some cute little mail delivery trucks for the USPS.”
Grumman: “You’re not gonna believe this…”
Just to head off any pedantry: I know this isn’t how it went, but it’s funnier this way.
I believe the history is Grumman made the usps trucks and then a little while after, they merged with Northrup, to make Northrup Grumman.
Yes, hence the disclaimer. Grumman delivered the Lunar Module in 1968, Grumman delivered the LLV in 1986, Northrup delivered the B-2 Spirit in 1987, and the companies combined in 1994.
You didn’t pay any attention to their comment trying to head off your pedantry. Did you?
The pedantry is genuinely interesting and contributes to the conversation. It’s not like *it’s or something that’s pedantic for the sake of being pedantic.
It’s wild that they actually responded to the pedantry comment with the exact pedantry I was trying to pre-empt.
So they make a variety of “delivery” vehicles…
I’m gonna miss the old design. The new one looks like someone smashed it with a looney tunes hammer.
Looks aside, I’ll bet visibility is incredible, at least from the front. And I think that at least my mail carrier will appreciate having air conditioning. We still have a lot of the old LLV’s here and it was 105 and humid all summer.
Functionally it’s amazing. Totally with you.
Being able to stand in the back, low step deck, ac/heat! Visibility. And electric for the most part. our couriers deserve it.
Being able to stand up inside the vehicle is another huge benefit. And a bunch of them are going to be electric.
Yeah, no doubt it’s a significant upgrade, the old vehicle’s silhouette is just really iconic to me.
For context, this is the current design, the Grumman LLV:
And this is the new 2024 redesign, the Oshkosh NGDV:
New design is goofy but I kinda love it, it looks like a cartoon. Also it just screams functionality, the driver can see so much out of that massive windshield
Can it hit 45 without flipping over the bumper?
Yes, but at 45 mph it starts playing the sound from Scooby Doo when Shaggy and Scooby start running away from the bad guy
Old looks cheap to make, new looks cheap and safe to operate, shows, imo, a positive trend.
Yes, the ones out there, so far, are reportedly a hit amongst mail carriers
I’m not surprised. I drive an EV as a delivery vehicle, and it’s pretty much the perfect use case for an EV. No engine that needs to be idles while you are out making deliveries, and regenerative breaking is very useful due to the constant stop and go
The old design looks like it was cobbled together by Elon Musk in his garage.
It’s the exact opposite of something Musk would make. Every aspect of the old LLV was designed to be used. Every aspect designed for longevity. If the steering wheels aren’t coming off of the Tesla cars, the metal cover is coming off of the Cybertruck’s footpedal.
I was mostly referring to the design mostly consisting of flat metal plates, something that hasn’t been common in cars or even very sturdy, long-lived work vehicles, pretty much ever since the WW2 era of vehicle design (e.g. 1948 Unimog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unimog )
The old model was named the Long Life Vehicle (LLV) for a reason. Ugly for sure, but rock sold. Designed in an era when the main concern was to last 6 digits on the odometer, powered by the iron duke engine. Moderately efficient at the time of its design in the late 70s, but absolutely dependable.
I never had a problem with the new, though admittedly goofy, design until I saw this picture. The ground clearance on that looks pretty low. Might just be photo angles tho. Anyone have any videos of these being tested out? Curious how they handle on dirt roads. I’m sure the did factor that into account, just curious is all.
Is this why I never see my mailman anymore?
Maybe your radar needs an upgrade?
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I have no idea why they sent me a thermonuclear device, I ordered an Xbox controller
The controller is just an off the shelf cost saver they use to control the drone with the bomb!
No wonder I never see, hear or detect the mail carrier on radar.
They just copied SAAB.
They tried to give away a SAAB made anti-tank weapon with each vehicle purchase in the US in the 80s and 90s to bolster sales, but were told “that’s not a responsible reaction to road rage.”
Truly a post apocalyptic company
“awe man, I’m on the mail truck line again”
“you get what you pay for”
