History | Discover the history of the postal service's vehicular fleet, the largest in the world.

"... In December 1899, an automobile mail wagon was tested for the first time. It was manufactured by the Winton Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The test was conducted with snow both on the ground and falling. Even in those conditions, the new vehicle covered 22 miles of paved and unpaved streets in just under two and one-half hours, stopping at 126 mailboxes along the route. The average time for a horse and wagon over the same route was six hours.

Officials cheered the dramatic increase in collection speed and soon postmasters across the country were testing motorized vehicles. Collection times were cut at least in half in most trials. This was exciting news for the time-conscious Post Office ..."   
Source: postalmuseum.si.edu

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