Oshkosh Defense and the USPS currently face a legal challenge from Workhorse Group over the new mail truck contract.
After the U.S. Post Office awarded Oshkosh Defense a $6 billion contract back in February to build the next-generation mail delivery trucks, the company said Tuesday it would build the vehicles in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In the process, it may hire over 1,000 employees to begin production, building between 50,000 and 165,000 vehicles over the next 10 years.
So far, the firm said it would invest $155 million to bring a South Carolina facility online. Rather than build a ground-up factory, it plans to repurpose an existing warehouse to fulfill its obligations, according to a piece from Reuters. Powering the ‘NGDV’ will be Ford powertrains, in both internal combustion and electric battery versions. The automaker said it would also provide suspension and other components, but did not disclose the value of its deal with Oshkosh Defense.
The USPS, for its part, said in a statement last week that “preproduction design, tooling and facility preparation are proceeding on schedule, with the first [NGDVs] estimated to appear on carrier routes in 2023.” The new vehicles tout significant comfort, ergonomic and safety improvements over the old Grumman LLVs, which have been in service since the late 1980s. Air conditioning and heating, a 360-degree camera system, air bags and automatic front and rear breaking are just a few of the headline features the Oshkosh Defense NGDV will have.
At this time, neither the USPS nor Oshkosh commented on a pending lawsuit by Workhorse Group challenging the Post Office’s design to reject their bid. The Loveland, Ohio-based company filed its protest in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, but details of the case are currently sealed.
More information on Oshkosh Defense’s contract deal is below:
