USPS awarded Oshkosh Defense a 10-year contract in February 2021 to manufacture as many as 165,000 postal delivery vehicles. “We have been monitoring the interest of Congress in funding an increase in electrification, and should funding be enacted we will assess the impact on our plans,” Kim Frum, USPS spokesperson, said in an email. The contract for Oshkosh also faced backlash because the defense contractor won the deal over electric vehicle maker Workhorse Group Inc. The USPS is being sued over its fleet purchase plan - which initially included a commitment to electrify just 10% of the fleet - by environmental groups as well as more than a dozen states. That assessment came before USPS doubled the proportion of electric vehicles in its initial order, and then announced last month that at least 40% of its total vehicles would be electric. The USPS said in a previous environmental impact statement that committing to more than 10% of electric vehicles in its fleet wasn’t possible without additional funding, estimating that it would need at least $3.3 billion more. Here’s What’s in Democrats’ $370 Billion Climate Spending Deal The legislation, which would spend $369 billion on climate and energy, would need all 50 Democratic votes to pass the chamber via a maneuver known as reconciliation, and it’s yet to be determined whether moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) will support it. Advocates are pressing the USPS to step up its replacement of its fleet with electric trucks. “This proposal, if it does pass, kind of puts to bed a lot of those issues, and I think there would be absolutely no reason why the Postal Service would continue to drag its feet.”Ī United States Postal Service employee sits in a truck outside a post office in Cincinnati on July 2, 2022. ![]() “With this funding, there’s absolutely no doubt that the Postal Service should commit to 100%, and we’re hopeful that our public pressure along with states and labor unions, and other folks will continue to make them go in that direction,” said Adrian Martinez, senior attorney on Earthjustice’s Right to Zero campaign. ![]() Lawmakers and activists have sought to reverse the move over the last year to force 100% fleet electrification. ![]() The spending would come as USPS has faced scrutiny and lawsuits for its plan to buy a bulk of new gasoline-powered delivery trucks from Oshkosh Defense. The USPS would secure $3 billion to electrify its trucks under legislation negotiated by Sen. Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that could get a vote in the chamber this week. Democrats’ new reconciliation deal adds to pressure on the US Postal Service to amend its controversial vehicle contract.
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