Working vehicles past their sell by.

[bangernomics]

Spotted this whilst taking the pooches out today. 
 

Local water company.
 

 Getting on a bit that. 

[Imhotep]

Royal Mail by me still use Combos of that vintage too, thought the same myself, got to be past a serviceable life now surely 

[morrisoxide]

Royal Mail around Leeds uses 10 & 59 plate Combo vans. I'm told it's becuase the ULEZ crap got brought in Bradford. The Royal Mail got all new ULEZ compliant vans for Bradford and shoved the old vans into Leeds.

Edited December 14, 2024 by morrisoxide
Combo not Corsa

[goosey]

Quite a few 08 plate Royal Mail Vauxhall  combos at the Halesowen sorting office 

[Matty]

United utilities and royal mail actually still buy and own their vans. So they get grim death out of them. And fair bloody play too!

[Rustybullethole]

Am all for these companies keeping them running and fully stamped. Might give me something to press into hard working service in 15/20 years time. 

[jim89]

25 minutes ago, Rustybullethole said:

Am all for these companies keeping them running and fully stamped. Might give me something to press into hard working service in 15/20 years time. 

As a new dishwasher?

[Rustybullethole]

12 minutes ago, jim89 said:

As a new dishwasher?

Admittedly my hopes for modern vans lasting as long as is dwindling though its worked for me thus far. 

Edit; plenty white goods have been used in the process 

Edited December 14, 2024 by Rustybullethole

[Popsicle]

My couriering van turns 16 next year, 382k miles on it, I always fear impending doom, but it seems to be running alright.

I keep looking at newer stuff but due to health stuff I'm not working at the mo, so reluctant to spend. I'm also closing in on my personal best of 389k miles that I put on an 02 reg Sprinter.

Surely keeping old vehicles running beyond their normal life is the AS way?

 

[N19]

A local hire company has a selection of Transits which include a 61-, 08-, R- and T- reg examples on the fleet. They previously had a huge array of old vans but the ULEZ put a stop to most of it.

[jon.k]

I love this kind of thing. There's a section in one of the classic lorry magazines called "still working" or something like that. It's wholesome to see old stuff soldiering on.

[mk2_craig]

This is not my photo but it was taken a few weeks ago and depicts bus/coach types that must be extinct in UK service? The Toyota mini coach has been put back into use after some years not working, there are two circa 1994 Dennis Darts which I think started life in the Isle of Man, and three Leyland Swifts which can’t be any newer than about 1991. As far as I’m aware, all still earning for their owner. 

 

[bangernomics]

Royal Mail around Leeds uses 10 & 59 plate Combo vans. I'm told it's becuase the ULEZ crap got brought in Bradford. The Royal Mail got all new ULEZ compliant vans for Bradford and shoved the old vans into Leeds.

Yeah around Cheshire too, drove by the sorting office earlier. There were a few next to the brand new electric stuff. The looked properly old.

[Madman Of The People]

No working vehicle on Earth can hold a candle to this…

 

Behold the Grumman LLV, or Long Life Vehicle.  This has been the workhorse of the United States Postal Service since 1986.  They were all built between 1986 and 1994 and are still in service today.

Built especially for the USPS, the LLV was originally intended to have a service life of 24 years but, in 2009, the USPS extended that lifespan to 30 years.  Almost all have now exceeded that projection.

The LLV’s replacement, the Oshkosh NDGV (Next Generation Delivery Vehicle) has only just recently begun production.  It will take several more years to completely replace the LLVs, meaning many of these boxy 30+ year old vans still have many more years to go before they’re finally decommissioned.

 

[ProgRocker]

Makes good business sense to run these vehicles for as long as possible from an accounting point of view. I approve. 

5 hours ago, Madman Of The People said:

No working vehicle on Earth can hold a candle to this…

[artdjones]

11 minutes ago, ProgRocker said:

Makes good business sense to run these vehicles for as long as possible from an accounting point of view. I approve. 

Just the kind of vehicle that a government department would design. Hideous looking, with nothing about it that would give you any pride in driving it.

That reminds me of another government designed vehicle.

[howe]

Company I used to work at still runs a 1985 Merc set up as a deflectograph for road testing (there are still a few of these in use with other surveying companies).

[jon.k]

This isn’t exactly past its sell-by but it’s been doing school runs around here for the past few years with Henshaws and then another operator. I haven’t seen it since September though, so maybe it has been retired from everyday use. Last year I saw the same company, Troopers Lodge motor services doing a school run with a Bristol VR which was pretty cool too.
 

edit- from westmidsbuspics on flickr.

Also it's been repainted since this picture and is apparently appearing on TV in a series called Joan soon.

[N19]

Thing is, there's some more 'mainstream' logic about keeping a really specialised vehicle on the road for a long time - it'll do low mileages and probably be expensively converted etc - but something bog standard is far more autoshitey and interesting. Maybe things like the plumber above are folks who bought a van and are now semi retired and only do odd jobs for mates etc. 

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, jon.k said:

This isn’t exactly past its sell-by but it’s been doing school runs around here for the past few years with Henshaws and then another operator. I haven’t seen it since September though, so maybe it has been retired from everyday use. Last year I saw the same company, Troopers Lodge motor services doing a school run with a Bristol VR which was pretty cool too.
 

 

Quite a lot of coaches from this era most likely would still be around doing the same as they're relatively easy to keep going so long as bodywork corrosion is kept at bay (which is why seeing one of the Duple counterparts to this Plaxton is so rare as they've mostly dissolved).  Especially a Volvo B10M like this which if looked after will keep going basically forever.

They all vanished virtually overnight in my area when the local authority imposed a maximum vehicle age on the school contracts.  Along with virtually every interesting coach in the area, probably half of the tiny operators also vanished as they couldn't justify replacing 3/4 of their fleet overnight which had essentially just been turned into doorstops.

Vast majority now have age, Euro rating and DDA compliance requirements in their contracts so the majority of coaches like this are likely to see little use outside preservation.  Especially with the proliferation of ULEZ arrangements which basically lock them out of city centres.

Slightly strange seeing that still doing schools service though given that it's all but identical to one of the coaches which took me to school 25+ years ago.  Okay, that was a late Volvo B58 rather than B10M, but the only visual difference would be the steering wheel and a couple of the instruments so unless you're a bus nerd you'd never know the difference.

[Madman Of The People]

5 hours ago, ProgRocker said:

Makes good business sense to run these vehicles for as long as possible from an accounting point of view. I approve. 

 

Here's an even funnier take on the LLV and how it came into existence.  NSFW warning: very sweary at times!

 

  

[Markeh]

I would imagine half the stuff used at airports. I did see an early 90s Transit at a depot for East Midlands earlier this year - and it must have still been in use as I walked back that way a day later and it had moved.

There's also an N-reg Merc tipper truck still doing regular service near me.

[danthecapriman]

Back where i used to live they were still running an 06 reg and a few 08/58 reg Combo’s on Royal Mail. Normally I don’t tend to give that sort of stuff a second look but they were becoming quite obvious when you saw them. Great value for money imho.

When I was at SSE we still had an A reg Dodge 50 van running, in use as a high voltage fault location test van or cable thumper van. Still in the old green & white SEB livery too. That eventually got retired around 2008/9ish because of rust. I drove it once and it was a truly magical experience to a sad bugger like me! 
Very similar to this one,

There was a J reg Renault 50 series still around with it too, in the silver Southern Electric livery for the same use. No idea what happened to that one.

And how can a thread like this exist without honourable mention of this beast!?

Absolute legend!

[sdkrc]

52 minutes ago, Markeh said:

I would imagine half the stuff used at airports. 

[lesapandre]

Wow - if they are that shonky wonder how the aircraft maintenance goes?

A choice review on TripAdvisor:

"This airline completely takes advantage of how they’re the only ones the fly to the north. Never been on a flight that wasn’t delayed. Which causes you to miss your connections wasting a day or more in the airport. The staff is rude, never gives valid reasons and you’re usually showing up before them for the flights. The prices are ridiculous especially for the quality and the planes look like they’re about to fall apart. They’re uncomfy and ridiculous small. Don’t ever expect to be on time, you have to waste an extra day off each way to be on time for out of town work because this airline will never do its job properly knowing people have no choice but to deal with them. Oh and for a native airline they won’t even allow you to use tax exempt. Worst airline. Wish a competitor would come in. Genuinely considering changing jobs just to not fly with them."

[LightBulbFun]

14 hours ago, Madman Of The People said:

No working vehicle on Earth can hold a candle to this…

 

Behold the Grumman LLV, or Long Life Vehicle.  This has been the workhorse of the United States Postal Service since 1986.  They were all built between 1986 and 1994 and are still in service today.

Built especially for the USPS, the LLV was originally intended to have a service life of 24 years but, in 2009, the USPS extended that lifespan to 30 years.  Almost all have now exceeded that projection.

The LLV’s replacement, the Oshkosh NDGV (Next Generation Delivery Vehicle) has only just recently begun production.  It will take several more years to completely replace the LLVs, meaning many of these boxy 30+ year old vans still have many more years to go before they’re finally decommissioned.

 

I think I have mentioned it before

https://autoshite.com/topic/30877-what-makes-you-grin-antidote-to-grumpy-thread/page/1773/#findComment-1755535

but I would love to import/have one of those, being RHD and all that and I love they just keep on plodding on, also their story is in general is quite fascinating with the fact that the majority of them are government owned except a very few sold privately so to speak, plus I have a close friend of mine who for many years ran a couple of very shonky S10's of about the same generation as what those LLV's are based on  

I do hope that as those LLVs are withdrawn, they can be purchased/preserved by those interested in doing so, because I do fear that otherwise if the USPS are super strict about (like how the DHSS were very strict towards the end of the Invacar scheme), then very few will end up surviving and that would be a big shame, as say what you will about them they are a very iconic vehicle over there

(I do know that there are already a couple here in the UK, but I dont know exactly what their story is, I would love to know tho!)

 

[Madman Of The People]

15 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

I think I have mentioned it before

https://autoshite.com/topic/30877-what-makes-you-grin-antidote-to-grumpy-thread/page/1773/#findComment-1755535

but I would love to import/have one of those, being RHD and all that and I love they just keep on plodding on, also their story is in general is quite fascinating with the fact that the majority of them are government owned except a very few sold privately so to speak, plus I have a close friend of mine who for many years ran a couple of very shonky S10's of about the same generation as what those LLV's are based on  

I do hope that as those LLVs are withdrawn, they can be purchased/preserved by those interested in doing so, because I do fear that otherwise if the USPS are super strict about (like how the DHSS were very strict towards the end of the Invacar scheme), then very few will end up surviving and that would be a big shame, as say what you will about them they are a very iconic vehicle over there

(I do know that there are already a couple here in the UK, but I dont know exactly what their story is, I would love to know tho!)

 

 

There evidently was a UK importer back in the mid-'90s who bought some of the civilian-spec LLVs, slapped some alloy wheels on them and tried to flog them in Britain.  I remember a magazine article from the time reviewing one.  Someone must have thought there was a market in the UK for this riveted aluminium box on wheels, being right hand drive, never mind the hairshirt-spec equipment list and the appalling fuel consumption.

The USPS Grummans will most likely be sold off at government auctions the same way it's predecessor, the Jeep DJ5 "Dispatch Jeep" was in the late 1980s.  The DJ5, and DJ3 before it, also had a very long service life.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_DJ

 

 

[danthecapriman]

32 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

I think I have mentioned it before

https://autoshite.com/topic/30877-what-makes-you-grin-antidote-to-grumpy-thread/page/1773/#findComment-1755535

but I would love to import/have one of those, being RHD and all that and I love they just keep on plodding on, also their story is in general is quite fascinating with the fact that the majority of them are government owned except a very few sold privately so to speak, plus I have a close friend of mine who for many years ran a couple of very shonky S10's of about the same generation as what those LLV's are based on  

I do hope that as those LLVs are withdrawn, they can be purchased/preserved by those interested in doing so, because I do fear that otherwise if the USPS are super strict about (like how the DHSS were very strict towards the end of the Invacar scheme), then very few will end up surviving and that would be a big shame, as say what you will about them they are a very iconic vehicle over there

(I do know that there are already a couple here in the UK, but I dont know exactly what their story is, I would love to know tho!)

 

When I got the Mercury imported I was having a nosey round the shippers storage warehouse before I left for home, as you do.

There was a Grumman LLV van in there with all other yank tanks! They are quite utilitarian and basic, but that’s why they last so long. But that wouldn’t be an issue for a man such as yourself😄

[Zelandeth]

Can't find it now, but I'm sure I remember someone importing one a few years ago and having a right song and dance trying to get it registered over here.  Problem being that they were never issued with any sort of VIN from the factory, being treated more as a piece of equipment rather than a vehicle as such.

No idea if there was more/less to it than that, but it sounded like a bit of a potential headache to have to work around.

Imagine they're rather agricultural to drive and probably have gearing that's utterly unsuited to actually travelling at more than 30mph.  Does that stop me wanting to have a shot of driving one?   Of course not!

[jon.k]

I’m sure I’ve see one in the uk with a camper van conversion and a kind of skylight or glass top on the roof.

 

edit: must have been this one.