Where Do Old UPS Trucks Go?

[x635 4,066]

I'm in the middle of readin "Big Brown- The Untold Story of UPS". So far, it's a great book. UPS is a very well built company, and very regimented.

Something I'm curious about is their fleet- the standard package delivery truck that they use.

What happens to them when they retire, or are put out of service?

I had once heard that UPS has one of the most phenomonal fleet maintainence programs in the world. I was told that they rebuild trucks over and over again, and dismantle the "icon" truck because they don't want any other company associated with it.

While I'm at it, I assume the Yorktown and Elmsford UPS Depot have fleet maintennce garages?

Also, I had remembered seeing a old UPS truck being used for the Atlanta bomb squad once.

I'm a couple of chapters into the book- maybe my questions will be answered- I'll let you know

(Typed by Kristen)

[Guest LAGRANGEFF40]

Hey Seth;

When i worked for ford i did warranty work on a few ups trucks and i asked the same question and i was told that they will refurb a truck 3 to 4 time in its life and some could have 500 thousand miles on them. They have a great maintenance schedule and they will do a full motor trans and differential swap at a certain mileage and rebuild all of the parts that are removed .

p.s. Hope your feeling better and i could do a nice whelen light package on your walker.

Edited March 8, 2007 by LAGRANGEFF40

[COMMANDCHIEF 4]

UPS destroys the body of the truck once it has outlived it's service life. Like the pre post stated. The bodies of the trucks will have several hundred thousand miles on them. The engines and transmissions are changed out as needed.

The Atlanta bomb truck story was news to me. I had done a marketing report years back in college, and they made it souid like they didn't want that style stuck associated with anything but UPS. So that's why they canned them when they were done.

[Oswegowind 17]

There was an article recently in the journal news. It talked about lefts are not right at UPS. Pretty interesting, apparently they route their deliveries based on right turns and the driver working off the right side of the vehicle. Talked about time and less danger crossing intersections. As for the trucks, they are cool but I noticed more and more sprinter vans being introduced. At one time I was under the impression that they manufactured their own vehicle but after the recent commercial vehicle enforcement in Yonkers learned that they were manufactured by all different companies. However they are the same in other countries, well at least the ones I have been to. In the article it said they were active in the design of the vehicles.

[COMMANDCHIEF 4]

J Edgar Hoover had the same policy for the FBI back in the day believe it or not. To cut down on accidents.

[Guest pentax02839]

the ups book sounds intresting,were did you get it? I thought there big van were built by grumman at one time.

[SteveOFD 176]

An odd site I saw a couple of weeks ago on I95. Saw two standard UPS Delivery Trucks each towing a four wheel short trailer, the same style landscapers use. The trailers were UPS Brown, but I did not notice any logo or lettering, they were going the in the opposite direction.

[Oswegowind 17]

Since this thread opened up I have seen all different types of UPS vehicles. All shapes and sizes...they have an interesting fleet.