WASHINGTON, D.C.—The United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a press release yesterday announcing a delivery network improvement plan, which it claimed offered the potential to expand the number of electric vehicles in the postal fleet. 

‍In response, Joe Britton, the Executive Director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA), released the following statement:‍

“Rearranging the order sequencing on a single digit percentage of electric postal vehicles doesn’t change the fact that USPS is locking in decades of reliance on gas-powered trucks. In fact, the vast majority of vehicles being procured under this flawed contract are set to run on gasoline and are going to have worse gas mileage than the 1988 models they are replacing.

“We saw USPS ignore the crucial cost savings and societal benefits that electrification would bring to its delivery service and the public, using an error-ridden environmental analysis to justify procuring an overwhelmingly gas-powered fleet that will leave Americans worse off. 

“We look forward to reviewing the findings of the United States House of Representatives’ Oversight and Reform Committee’s upcoming investigation. We also hope that USPS’s new environmental impact statement will correct the myriad errors and mistaken assumptions that have led USPS to this point—and persuade USPS to electrify its NGDV fleet, delivering cost savings to USPS and vast public health, environmental, and economic benefits to the American public.”