The U.S. Postal Service has awarded contracts worth $37.4 million combined to six companies to produce a total of 50 prototype next-generation delivery vehicles for USPS.
USPS said Sept. 16 half of the prototypes to be developed under the agency’s NGDV acquisition effort will include hybrid and new technologies such as alternative fuel capacity and represent various vehicles sizes and drive configurations.
Contractors will have one year to develop and create the prototypes that USPS aims to test over a six-month period in various climates, topography, population centers and delivery environments to demonstrate the vehicles’ capacity to meet operational needs.
The six prime suppliers for the NGDV acquisition program are:
- AM General
- Karsan
- Mahindra
- Oshkosh (NYSE: OSK)
- Utilimaster
- VT Hackney
USPS also looks to post a request for proposals for commercial off-the-shelf right-hand drive delivery vehicles in a move to explore a variety of available options during the research phase and evaluate COTS vehicles proposed resulting from the RFP.
