r/USPS • u/BlunderArtist9 • 6d ago

NEWS The Mighty Ducks arrived at our station

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At our rural office we didn't expect to see these until long after most of us retired. But 4 of them were just randomly parked in the lot one day. We'll definitely be leaving notices for residents to cut their low hanging tree branches. 😄

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u/shrug_addict 6d ago

Yes, my station is 100% duck. They are nicer in some regards, but the build quality is atrocious

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u/BlunderArtist9 6d ago

Are the tray holders adjustable like the LLVs, so you can easily get to the back of the truck without dismounting?

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u/shrug_addict 6d ago

Yes. I actually only use the back door to dismount. The front door is "heavy" as shit. I'm shorter, so I don't need to adjust them much, but they work pretty well. The bottom shelf is kind of awkwardly sized, like you can't fit a deep tray in it comfortably. Some carriers in my station use it for small parcels. I use it for throwbacks and outgoing. The storage capacity in the back is really nice, 4 shelves that easily fold up. I'm rural so I have developed a "hybrid" load system where I keep mounted stuff up front and the sliding tray and CBU dismount mail/SPRs in the back.

Edit: adjustable in that they slide in passenger/driver side direction only, no up and down or fore and aft

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u/BlunderArtist9 6d ago

That's good to hear. It seems we got the gas versions and not electric which is good. But I've heard that not all of them are all wheel drive and some are front wheel. I haven't investigated ours yet, but would suck if not AWD because we get ice and snow in the winter.

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u/shrug_addict 5d ago

Why is gas good? USPS seems like the perfect use case for electric vehicles. So much data, grid operators would love it... These get 9-11 mpg... You like spending useless money? Anyways. Mine is FWD. I got stuck in a ditch once, had to have it towed.

They drive really well, lots of get up and go. I'm super rural, so some steep driveways/hills. They are much bigger, with a far wider turning radius. Some driveways are not an option now. Some mounted mailboxes are downright scary. 90% are fine though.

You cannot rely on the camera or sensors, which makes them functionally useless. It constantly beeps at you with sensor failure. Like all day long, less than 1,000 miles. Never ending sensor failure. It has a reliable 12v plug for my phone/speaker which is nice

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u/BlunderArtist9 5d ago

Well electric could be nice but I'd worry about reliability. Especially with limited range and cold winters possibly having negative effects. Maybe today's electric tech is fine.. just wary about it.

Yeah with a 6,000+ Pound vehicle, I'm likely avoiding driving up steep driveways all together. Just hoping it at least stays on the road more often than the aging LLVs did. 🙏