U.S. Postal Service Buys 9000 Minivans and 2000 Trucks

09/17/96

The Associated Press has reported that the U.S. Postal Service announced Friday that it will buying 8,879 Ford minivans. The Postal Service said that it has a $161.6 million contract with the Ford to buy vans that will replace aging vehicles on both city and rural delivery routes. USPS will get 7,954 front-wheel-drive vans and 925 four-wheel-drive vans.

Ford will supply USPS with two vehicles in mid-December, 500 more in the following two months, and then 900-a-month until the contract is fulfilled.

USPS also awarded Hendrix GMC of Austin, Texas with a $60.5 million contract for 1,990 new one- and two-ton diesel-engine trucks. Hendrix will manage the contract, while Utilimaster Corp. of Wakarusa, Indiana will build them by adding its truck bodies to a General Motors chassis. USPS will use the new trucks for mail delivery and collection runs.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel