Friday, March 18, 2022

USPS Contract Must Require At least 75% Electric Trucks


Despite, Passing the Postal Service Reform Act (H.R.3076), which: Repeals unnecessary Expenses at USPS; creates a Real-Time Performance Dashboard for the Mail; requires 6 day a week Service; and allows “non-postal” Services like Fishing Licenses and Subway Passes, saving the USPS from the Failed Leadership of Louis DeJoy, is not done.

The USPS Finalized plans in February, to purchase up to 148,000 Mail Delivery Trucks from Oshkosh Defense, 90% of them powered by Gasoline Fueled Combustion Engines expected to get 8 miles per gallon, and 10% Electric (EVs).

The Wisconsin Company, after signing the Contract with USPS, decamped to South Carolina to build the Trucks with Non-Union Workers. That’s 1,000 Union Jobs that their highly-skilled Oshkosh, Wisconsin Workers were counting on.

Louis DeJoy’s decision to sign a $11.3 billion Contract for Non-Union built Trucks with the Fuel Efficiency of a Hummer is disastrous Bad Management, and directly Defies the Biden Administration Objections that the multibillion-dollar Contract would Undercut the Nation’s Climate Goals.

Rep. Gerry Connolly’s (D-VA, 11th District), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations New Bill, Green Postal Service Fleet Act, which Prohibits the Postal Service from enacting its Contract with Oshkosh Defense for the Trucks, unless the Fleet is made up of at least 75% EVs.

The Bill already has 68 Co-Sponsors in the U.S. House. It’s time to get every member of Congress in the House and Senate on board, and pass the Bill before a Single Vehicle rolls off the Assembly line.

Transportation is the Largest Single Source of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the U.S. Studies show Frontline Black and Brown Communities bear the brunt of Pollution from Heavy Trucks with Combustion Engines. Mail Carriers who drive Postal Trucks are particularly affected from Vehicle idling, which releases High Levels of Localized Air Pollution.

President Biden has set a Goal of Converting all Federal Cars and Trucks to Clean Power, and Postal Service Vehicles make up a Third of the Government’s Fleet already.

As the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Vicki Arroyo said in a letter to USPS: “The Postal Service’s proposal as currently crafted represents a crucial lost opportunity to more rapidly reduce the carbon footprint of one of the largest government fleets in the world.”










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