Fun with government vehicles

[bhskittykatt]

So very lost...

On our way home today, we came across a sedan stopped in the street. As we came up behind it, the driver apparently realized, "Hey, there are other people who want to drive here", and he slowly moved on. He turned down a side street, which we also turned down. Then he stopped, and made a turn up a lane, ignoring the "Do Not Enter" signs and arrows pointing the opposite direction he was traveling in. He did pause for a second, as if he realized his mistake, but then went "aww f*** it" and sped off, still going the wrong way up the one-way lane.

The car had government plates. Hubby made a quip about how this is proof the government doesn't know where it's going. Har-dee-har.

Speaking of government vehicles...

We passed this today:



That is a vintage mail truck, full of mail, and still in service! I mean, I know the postal service has had to cut back some, but really?
I'm thinking it must be the vehicle they give to the new guy as some sort of hazing.

[Shpepper]

Those are some of the best delivery vehicles the post office ever had. My dad loved them and always had one when he delivered the mail. Also, it looks like that may be used for a Rural Route where they don't use the pretty rigs because of the wear and tear on them.

[Shalom]

I'm wondering why it has that one alloy wheel? I don't think that was original equipment.

Also, it's hard to see because of the angle, but that doesn't look like a US Government license plate to me (they usually have letters and numbers like "G##" in a diagonal at the left side). It seems likely that this is the personal vehicle of a mail carrier with an antiquarian bent.

(Don't rural letter carriers use their own vehicles sometimes? I know I've seen photos of cars with the steering wheel jury-rigged into the passenger seat.)

[bhskittykatt]

Shalom:

You're probably right. It could be for a rural route normally, and maybe he was covering the city route that day? He was definitely not heading in the direction of the county. I've never seen something that old carrying mail before!

[Aethian]

Rural carriers can NOT work on city routes. Either you saw a rural carrier heading to their route or a replacement truck that some VMF pulled out from....somewhere. Hell we're not supposed to be using relay boxes anymore and yet some small towns still have them so I can see some small towns still having the Jeeps stashed away somewhere.

You'd be surprised what some of our rural routes are, it's not easy to turn a rural route into a city route after the city limits have grown. We're both carriers but we follow different contracts, hire ins, and are different unions.

When the post office went from the Jeeps to the LLV's rural carriers had first pick on buying them. Several would buy from 2 to more because the parts would be interchangeable. One of the same reasons why so many carriers drive the LLV's now. A part from a 95 LLV will fit into a 10 LLV and be no different.

As for the license plate, when a rural buys a jeep the vehicle is theres and must be under their insurance and their registration. The US MAIL signs are removable and the jeep can then be used as a personal vehicle.

LLV's do NOT have license plates at all nor do they have VIN's like civilian vehicles do. the number/letter combination is different. As for having the government "G" supervision vehicles don't have government plates they look just like regular plates.

[protege]

When my grandmother still lived in the country, most of the letter carrier used Subaru station wagons. I don't know if it's still done, but Subaru actually sold some of their US models with the steering wheel on the right, instead of the left side. Why? Well, it was found to be easier for the carrier to pull over, roll down the window, and put the mail into the boxes. It saved time, and the carrier didn't have exit the vehicle in poor weather.

[chainedbarista]

why am i not surprised at the wa license plate? (i'm from there) that looks like something that would be operating where i came from...modern as it is.

[sevendaysky]

I found myself staring at the picture trying to figure out if this was in my neck of the woods. (WA) The trucks here are the more modern white ones, but at my mother's place (about a mile down the road) the mail carriers seem to be more of a personal vehicle thing - seen station wagons, sedans, jeeps etc. Though now that the new Jr High was built a block away, they seem to be getting the "official" trucks now.