Canadian LLV
Photo: wiki
In 2009 Grumman determined that the LLV’s lifespan could be bumped up to a full 30 years which would make 2016 the last year of the LLV. The Postal Service spent $524 million in the fiscal year of 2009 on repairs for the fleet of LLV’s. After estimating that it would cost roughly $4.2 billion to replace the entire fleet they have now started reviewing options for a replacement. As of this writing they are still in the prototype testing phase but are said to make a decision as to what the replacement will be. The order is said to be an estimated 180,000 vehicles, each costing roughly $25,000-$35,000. Even on the low end that is around $4.5 billion so you can imagine manufactures are jumping at the opportunity. General Motors is said to be taking this very seriously so it will be interesting to see how the whole thing works out.