Old postal Jeeps aren’t worth much. So many of them were built, and so many of them were trashed, that they weren’t even a dime a dozen. Shoot, they were more like a nickel a dozen. That’s not the case with this new Jeep Gladiator mail carrier built by step van outfitter Morgan Olson, though. Just look at it!
It’s a Gladiator pickup with the back chopped off, and in place of the rear seats and bed, you’ll find a versatile service box. Morgan Olson officially calls it the Kestrel work truck after a breed of falcon, but it’ll always be a postal Jeep to me.
The service box comes in different configurations, but no matter what, it’s made of aluminum. Morgan Olson says that helps it stay close to the weight of a stock Gladiator, so somewhere around 5,000 pounds. That also means it achieves a max payload capacity of 1,700 pounds—just 25 pounds short of what you can load into a normal Sport S trim. The 137-inch wheelbase is also identical to a factory-fresh Jeep, though the overall length is eight inches shorter at 210 inches from nose to tail.
And before you ask, yes, Morgan Olson can build it in right-hand drive.
A Jeep Gladiator Forum member who goes by TheDerb claims the target starting price is under $80,000. For context, the Gladiator Sport S starts at $43,295, so the service body comes just shy of doubling the price. I’ll leave you to decide whether or not that’s a good deal, but keep in mind that this was always going to cost more than tossing on a bed topper and calling it “dry storage.” There’s multi-level shelving, easy access from both sides of the box as well as at the back, and all the service body doors roll up instead of opening out, so you get the full tactile experience of being a mail carrier.
The more I think about it, the more sense it makes to use a Gladiator for rural package deliveries. It’s one of the few midsize pickups left that you can still get without a turbocharged engine, and it’s barebones simple inside. The hand-crank windows are out for 2025, however, which is kinda sad. At least you can blast your tunes through the Bluetooth infotainment, and if the weather calls for it, take off the doors for easy in-and-out.
I just might have to become a mailman.
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