While USPS may not be in the best financial position as of late, it still has a job to do, and many of its specialized mail carrier vans are a bit well-aged at this point.
The postal service has now decided that FCA’s 2016 RAM ProMaster 2500 is the perfect vehicle for the job and has placed an order for 9,113 units. Fleet sales are the real money-makers for automaker, and FCA just hit a good-sized jackpot.
Now while over 9,000 vans sounds like a lot, it’s a tiny percentage compared to the 190,000 USPS vehicles currently operating across the country.
“While each and every one of our fleet customers is important to us, none command our attention like USPS,” said FCA’s fleet operations director Tim Kuniskis. “I can’t think of another more mission-critical service than literally delivering the goods of our nation on a daily basis, and we are honored that USPS chose the Ram ProMaster to help them meet their challenging duty.”
That’s high praise for RAM’s workhorse van, but once all the ProMasters are specially equipped for collecting and delivering mail and packages, they may prove to be the perfect tool to handle the postal service’s nearly 154 million delivery points across the U.S.
Each ProMaster will also use a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine making a substantial 280 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque paired with a six-speed automatic transmission. While the vans only come with front-wheel drive, the USPS is fairly confident it can still deliver in all types of weather.
It will still be a while before the service completely replaces its massive fleet of Grumman LLV’s, (which ended production in 1994) probably because LLV stands for “Long-Life Vehicle.” Still, keep an eye out for a RAM van full of junk mail to be visiting your mailbox soon.
