Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
One of the more fascinating visits on our West Coast shop tour was a behind-the-scenes look at the University of Washington's mail delivery service in Seattle. We've corresponded occasionally with their fleet manager Alistair over the years as he was tuning and optimizing GMAC builds, but had no idea of the full scope of their activities. On Aaron's return north their operations guy Steven Roberts showed us what makes it all click.
The university sends out between 5000-10000 mail parcels EVERY SINGLE DAY. Using ebikes rather than trucks has not only saved money, it's also drastically cut down on delivery times while navigating the congested city streets.
This is a great example of the role cargo EV's can play in improving business and logistics operations. And a good part of what makes their operation a success is having a dedicated fleet and maintenance manager like Alistair to keep all vehicles in ship shape. It's also a testament to how useful hub motors are in these applications where reliability and uptime is all that matters.
Here are some links to more information if you are interested:
https://sustainability.uw.edu/blog/2018-11/delivering-difference-mailing-services-uses-e-bikes-move-mail-uw
cascade.org/news/2024/02/delivering-parcels-e-bike-uws-campus-mail-woman
https://csf.uw.edu/project/708-electric-bicycle-mail-delivery
instagram.com/uw_msbikes
Boys in the boat: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boys_in_the_Boat_(film)
Robert our Wheelbuilder: youtube.com/watch?v=3OialWggZJo
One of the more fascinating visits on our West Coast shop tour was a behind-the-scenes look at the University of Washington's mail delivery service in Seattle. We've corresponded occasionally with their fleet manager Alistair over the years as he was tuning and optimizing GMAC builds, but had no idea of the full scope of their activities. On Aaron's return north their operations guy Steven Roberts showed us what makes it all click.
The university sends out between 5000-10000 mail parcels EVERY SINGLE DAY. Using ebikes rather than trucks has not only saved money, it's also drastically cut down on delivery times while navigating the congested city streets.
This is a great example of the role cargo EV's can play in improving business and logistics operations. And a good part of what makes their operation a success is having a dedicated fleet and maintenance manager like Alistair to keep all vehicles in ship shape. It's also a testament to how useful hub motors are in these applications where reliability and uptime is all that matters.
Here are some links to more information if you are interested:
https://sustainability.uw.edu/blog/2018-11/delivering-difference-mailing-services-uses-e-bikes-move-mail-uw
cascade.org/news/2024/02/delivering-parcels-e-bike-uws-campus-mail-woman
https://csf.uw.edu/project/708-electric-bicycle-mail-delivery
instagram.com/uw_msbikes
Boys in the boat: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boys_in_the_Boat_(film)
Robert our Wheelbuilder: youtube.com/watch?v=3OialWggZJo
