Old ups trucks

bigred · July 10, 2018, 06:48:47 PM

Guy's :this ain't got a thing to do with buses but it is something I am curious about .Where do old UPS trucks go to die?? They seem to turn these trucks fairly often but you never see one rebadged as as a food truck or plumbers van .

richard5933 · July 10, 2018, 07:04:36 PM

When I worked for the local UPS facility I asked the same question. Apparently they don't go anywhere - they rebuild, reconfigure, reuse, and when the thing has absolutely on value to them they are scraped. I was told that they never sell them anymore and that since the bodies are aluminum they usually just keep rebuilding & repainting them & upgrading them. Next time you have a delivery, ask the driver and he'll probably tell you stories about the various upgrades his truck has had over the years. My local driver has one that looks new, but it's because it's wearing a new front end.

I've got an old Grumman step van I bought when I had a wood shop making furniture. It was originally a Hostess bread truck. I wanted an old UPS truck but found that they are impossible to buy nowadays. I like mine, and with the aluminum body it still looks pretty good. The Ford chassis was upgraded to carry a Cummins Diesel 4BT, but otherwise it's pretty much stock.

easystreet · July 10, 2018, 08:19:27 PM

I too have been told that UPS does not resell any delivery units - they all get scrapped. I remember about 8 years ago seeing a literal stack of the bodies waiting for the crusher at a scrap dealer here in Spokane.

luvrbus · July 10, 2018, 08:28:26 PM

UPS is strange their highway trucks are about the only trucks they have that will have manufactures logo on it .I do a little work for our local UPS diesel work only,they pay very well the collecting takes a while

but the check will come

chessie4905 · July 11, 2018, 04:22:14 AM

https://jalopnik.com/5046031/ups-truck-turns-over-a-million-miles-in-22-years

Notice it is a GMC..not an Eagle, MCI, or Prevost......lol😄

bigred · July 11, 2018, 06:21:59 AM

Thanks for the info Guy's !! I had no Idea they just kept recycling these things .Kind of figured they might be selling them to some foreign country such as Cuba.Cuban's are still driving 50ties model cars that keeps getting rebuilt with what ever parts they might come up with .The last bunch of Big Beck buses (Scnicruiser Knock off's) were used in Cuba .Supposedly these were all sent back to the states and destroyed but I often wonder if some of these might still be running routes in Cuba.

edvanland · July 11, 2018, 10:49:23 AM

My nephew in Memphis used to change two or three engines a day in their trucks. When the truck was totally beyond repairing UPS would have him strip what was usable and the main body went to a certified crusher. They never sell a small delivery truck as they don't want some imposter dressed like UPS driving a UPS looking truck to do bad things.

luvrbus · July 11, 2018, 12:32:11 PM

Most of the UPS old gasoline rigs use the Ford 300 inline six cylinder engine

chessie4905 · July 11, 2018, 12:58:57 PM

Everything you don't need to know...
https://www.quora.com/Does-UPS-make-their-own-trucks-If-not-who-makes-them-and-what-is-the-model-name

CrabbyMilton · July 12, 2018, 05:02:23 AM

Yeah I too have heard that they keep them as long as they are serviceable then the salvage the usable parts then scrap the rest.
I remember the ones around here in the Milwaukee area growing up back in the 1970's that were on CHEVROLET chassis with the 292 6 and stick shift. Those lasted well into the late '90's and early '00's and many of those were repowered with the 4.3L V6 but kept the stick shift according to what some drivers told me.
Now most built on FREIGHTLINER with either GM gasoline V8's with automatic or CUMMINS diesel with automatic and I've read that electric or hybrids are starting to creep in which makes sense.

I have had a love/hate now mostly hate relationship with UPS given the nature of my job.
I would love to have the money to get my own bus and have it painted brown and then drive it around an UPS center just to torment them. Or I can achieve the same effect with a van or even sedan.

TomC · July 14, 2018, 05:30:55 AM

Just talked to a UPS road driver. He was driving a KW with Cummins ISX-12 CNG engine and UltraShift transmission. All wheel disc brakes. Behind the cab CNG tanks that he said had a 900 mile range! That could be doable with a motorhome-then just use the CNG for cooking and heating also.
He also said that UPS has 300 Tesla electric 3 axle tractors on order. Good Luck, TomC

chessie4905 · July 14, 2018, 06:18:29 AM

http://www.thedrive.com/tech/20634/tesla-semi-range-claims-have-escalated-to-600-miles

windtrader · July 14, 2018, 09:30:06 PM

QuoteHe also said that UPS has 300 Tesla electric 3 axle tractors on order.

To the naysayers and luddites here, electric vehicles are here. And self-driving vehicles are very close behind. None of this affects the busnuts here as it will be decades before any of this tech trickles down to our niche.

eagle19952 · July 14, 2018, 09:47:47 PM

Quote from: windtrader on July 14, 2018, 09:30:06 PM
To the naysayers and luddites here, electric vehicles are here. And self-driving vehicles are very close behind. None of this affects the busnuts here as it will be decades before any of this tech trickles down to our niche.

The Army is testing trucks that follow one.
https://www.wired.com/2016/07/armys-self-driving-trucks-hit-highway-prepare-battle/

richard5933 · July 15, 2018, 04:06:28 AM

Electric vehicles have been here as long as we've had horseless carriages. In my opinion, the only thing holding them back is the range issue and, more importantly, the length of time it takes to recharge and be back on the road. Lick those two issues and they will become the standard.

Self-driving vehicles? They are here, but until they can get one to tell snow flakes from real obstacles it might be a while. Or tell the difference between a pedestrian putting up a hand to say 'stop' from a pedestrian waving the driver onward.