You might see this headline and think, “Why am I reading about the post office on a trucking interest blog?” Well, to be fair, you must look at the post office for what it is: A sprawling fleet and transportation logistics operation. In fact, the United States Postal Service (USPS) current fleet sits at around 230,000 vehicles. Of those, 190,000 are dedicated solely to delivering mail and parcels. You likely remember the Grumman LLV boxy mail truck puttering around neighborhoods for decade after decade.
USPS is, quite simply, a huge user and contributor to the trucking and transportation network in the United States. As such, its future matters greatly to trucking interests and advocacy organizations. How the Post Office fares 20 or 30 years down the road impacts all of us. Additionally, the USPS is a known brand around the world, shipping to many countries and working closely with international partners to provide low-cost shipping.
A Storied History
The post office has always been an entity that explores innovation in transportation. It may not be well-known, but the first Postmaster General was Benjamin Franklin. At the time, the Post Office was used for communication between Congress and military commanders during the Revolutionary War.
Movies have been used in popular culture to imbed the Post Office as something vital to our collective consciousness as Americans. Kevin Costner’s The Postman cast an unlikely hero as a savior in a Postal Service outfit. Other movies have featured the Pos Office in various ways. However you look at it, the USPS is a cultural phenomenon as much as it is a logistical one.
The USPS was also at the leading edge of airplane and automobile usage. They were early adopters and even played a role in the civil rights movement. Many people in this country of different generations view the Postal Service as vital national asset and symbol of American pride. Still, there has been some recent controversy as the USPS aims to modernize its fleet. With a new vehicle contract going to a major defense manufacture, some are scratching their heads.
The Push to Modernize
The USPS is making a big push to modernize on the backs of numerous complaints within the agency that their current fleet of Grumman-made trucks – those ubiquitous box trucks we all know so well – is prone to catching fire by themselves and not the result of an accident. It is well-known that the USPS’ current fleet of Grumman trucks is based on highly antiquated technology.
So, when Louis DeJoy, the current Postmaster General, announced they were awarding a billion-dollar vehicle modernization contact to a defense manufacturer that had little experience building EVs, Washington erupted. As it stands, lawmakers point out that if USPS were to move forward with the plan, they would be the last internal combustion vehicles on the road by the end of their lifespan.
As a result, several Democratic lawmakers have penned a letter requesting that the contract be put on hold until three new members are seated to the USPS Board of Governors. But while it is easy for political parties to pick a side on this issue and use it as their personal punching bag, the full story of how this contract was awarded goes for deeper.
A Messy Contract Process
When the USPS first announced they were taking bids to modernize their fleet, only two companies wound up placing bids: Workhorse Group Inc. and Oshkosh Corporation. Interestingly, these companies could not be farther apart in their story. Workhorse is a plunky electric truck startup that has only delivered a few hundred drive-ready vehicles, while Oshkosh is an over 100-year-old company that has been providing manufacturing expertise to the U.S. Government for many, many years.
The problem is that Workhorse specializes in EVs, whereas Oshkosh may not necessarily have the expertise or resources to build a massive, 160,000-strong fleet of EVs for the USPS. Yet, if you dig deep into the full situation, Workhorse is being sued by Fuzzy Panda Research, an investment firm who holds a short position on the company, for misleading the public regarding the USPS contract. Fuzzy Panda alleges that Workhorse’s prototypes were plagued with problems.
Still, even Oshkosh Corporation themselves admit, in an investor statement released shortly before they were awarded the contract, that they may have problems fulfilling a pure EV order. Since the contract has been awarded, however, they released a statement purporting that the company can capably produce up to 100% EVs if requested, but it is up to the USPS to make the request.
In the meantime, Postmaster General DeJoy was lambasted when he stated that the intent was to only order 10% of the new fleet in EV format. With Oshkosh stating they can fulfill a higher manufacturing request, there is much speculation as to why the initial order is so sparse of EVs. All of this is in light of the fact that private sector corporations are embracing EVs in large numbers. FedEx, UPS, Amazon, and DHL have all made big moves to adopt EV technologies.
Should USPS Go Electric?
A case can certainly be made for the USPS converting their fleet to EVs. One big reason for this is EV lifetime operating costs. The charging and maintenance required are as low as one-third of the analogous costs for internal combustion variants. And considering the USPS comprises 30% of the entire federal fleet, people are making the case for an all-electric future for the Postal Service.
Some renewable advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers are pointing to potential public health benefits that come from electrifying the fleet. Currently, many vehicles in the USPS fleet utilize diesel engines, which creates more particulate matter and potentially harmful emissions. These emissions directly impact many communities that live in heavily trafficked corridors.
COVID-19 severity can also be directly linked to respiratory problems, which generally arise when people live in dense urban areas and breath in particulate matter related to internal combustion engines. With America emerging from a pandemic driven by a terrible respiratory virus, electrifying the U.S. government’s largest fleet sends a message that the Feds take public health seriously.
Questions Remain
The debate over electrifying the USPS fleet is far from over, and many questions remain. One of the main sticking points is the secrecy surrounding the project and the criteria used to evaluate the ratios of gasoline to electric vehicles the service intends on ordering. As a result, Democratic members of Congress have asked the USPS to turn over the contract signed with Oshkosh Corporation.
During a Congressional oversight hearing discussing the matter, Representatives pressed DeJoy to explain how much of the fleet would be electric, to which he replied 10%. He did state that the vehicles could be built in both electric and gas configurations. He did mention that the agency did a 15-year cost assessment and determined they would need $4 billion to $5 billion more than allotted currently to reach 50% electrification. Still, the figures that came from that assessment have not been released publicly, so no one really knows what the data is that came up with those numbers.
One of the things DeJoy did allude to was large charging estimates. Fortunately, the new Oshkosh vehicles should only need Level 2 charging since many would be charging overnight in hubs. The vehicles will not need fast charging capabilities because the USPS runs the mail only during certain hours. It is also not known if the benefit to local communities through transmission line upgrades and charger installations.
In the end, the onus will be on Oshkosh. While the company has a lot of experience filling big orders for the U.S. government, yet there have been no renderings or prototypes of the vehicle made available. The closest we have come is this picture from an Engadget article released in February.
While Congress continues to try to get more information or change the parameters of the deal, the Biden administration has remained tight-lipped on what it will do. President Biden’s selections to the Board of Governors have not yet been seated and he does not have the power to outright remove DeJoy. Certainly, the power struggle will continue, but there is little doubt that the future will contain big changes for the USPS fleet. Will those changes be for the better or worse a this point is anyone’s guess.