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Comment by tyingq | Hacker News Reader

The proposed new trucks look pretty wonky, like a cartoon: https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images...

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Looks wonky but I would have preferred to drive one of these. Those two cameras would have been super helpful, plus that blind spot warning for the left side. Those will make a big difference.

Also, these have air conditioning!! What a luxury! The previous ones did not have that. Just a sad little fan that barely did anything.

Postal workers don't care what the vehicles look like, they want practical safety features that help them do their jobs.

Not visually appealing at first glance, but the posts I've seen by postal workers are that this thing looks great. The cargo capacity will handle the increase in package delivery, and it's much easier to see around the edges to maneuver up to a mailbox, which reduces the times a carrier has to get out to deliver the mail. The current vans don't even have A/C, and their collision warning system is a plastic pole at the corner.

Form really follows function.

I like them purely because it's unbelievably distinctive -- just like the old fleet IMO

+1 to this. Having that iconic look that you can recognize instantly "That's the mail carrier!" - and designed for it's specific function - Outstanding! Just hope they don't randomly catch fire ;)

Woah. I never knew how much I liked the “old” USPS vans until I saw the new one.

"Maily McMailface".

Isn't the driver seat on the wrong side?

US should be on the left side right? The figure shows right side...

This way the driver can put mail in suburban mailboxes without leaving the seat (while driving on the right side of the road).

Current US mail trucks are right hand drive so the driver can deliver to curbside mailboxes without getting out.

You are right that US drivers usually have the steering column on the left side

However, postal drivers get out of their vehicle all the time, and often on roads not meant to have vehicles pull over. Therefore them getting out from the right hand side prevents them from having to exit into traffic.

That image doesn't emphasize any of the stuff that the people that will have to work with the vehicle and will be responsible for fleet performance want to know (and by proxy, their bosses, who are authorizing the expense).

What's my maintenance costs and times gonna look like?

Will it be ergonomic to get in and out all the time?

Can this vehicle pull out into traffic easily?

Is this vehicle gonna be a fatiguing pain to drive?

The features list almost raises more questions than answers. Half the tech they highlighted comes with a very high risk of being worse than the manual solution it's replacing if the tech is not up to par. Nobody wants to wait for the automatic door to close to put it in gear.

Edit: So why is this opinion so unwelcome here, because I'm not on the "more tech more better" bandwagon or something of actual substance?

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