Government: Agencies the Postman's New Wheels

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America's posties will soon be getting new wheels. The U.S. Postal Service disclosed last week that it will buy a fleet of modernistic aluminum vans from Bethpage, N.Y.-based Grumman to replace the familiar red-white-and-blue AM General Jeeps and trucks that deliver mail on U.S. streets. The $1.1 billion contract, the largest vehicle purchase in Postal Service history, calls for 99,150 new vans to hit the road between 1987 and 1993.

Postal officials decided in 1982 that a larger, sturdier vehicle was required because of the increased volume of mail and the longer distances between delivery points. The vans have twice the capacity of the Postal Service Jeeps and are expected to last 24 years, vs. eight years for the Jeeps. The vans should save the Postal Service $5.9 billion over the life of the fleet.