Interior temperatures of over 120F. Mail carriers discussing cooking meals on floorboards. Some postal workers literally dying from heat. To be an American postal delivery worker in a Grumman LLV in a hot part of the United States is to sweat. And sweat. And drink water. And struggle to get one tiny fan to keep you from having to take so many breaks that you can’t get your job done. Let’s talk about the Grumman LLV and its lack of air conditioning, which is absolutely ridiculous in 2024.
Recently, I found myself sitting at a stoplight next to America’s mail-delivery workhorse, the Grumman LLV (see below). I looked inside and spotted a fan — not a fan integrated nicely into a dashboard, but a fan you might expect to see in a toll booth or dormitory. An afterthought.