Louis DeJoy Is Not A Climate Ally

Steve HutkinsBlog, News

therevolvingdoorproject: A Politico article published this week features an eye-catching headline: “Louis DeJoy: From Trump villain to Biden’s clean energy buddy.” Quoting “sources close to DeJoy,” the piece argues that the scandal-plagued Postmaster General has turned over a new leaf, and is working with Biden climate advisor John Podesta to secure an “environmental renaissance” of the Postal Service delivery fleet. If … Read More

DeJoy Is Still Dragging His Feet at Every Step on Electrifying the Postal Fleet

Steve HutkinsBlog, News

USPS leadership shifted from committing to only 5% electric vehicles at the outset of the project to 62% as of their last announcement; this is certainly movement, but it’s far from the 95% that experts recommended. For as much as we’ve heard Postmaster General Louis DeJoy talk about the need for “dramatic change” at U.S. Postal Service when it comes … Read More

Despite Potential to Electrify 90 Percent of Routes, USPS Still Plans to Deliver Pollution with the Mail

Steve HutkinsBlog, News

Unlike the original EIS, the SEIS did include at least one feasible alternative, but it still did not analyze an alternative including the maximum technically feasible ZEV deployment. The Postal Service noted in the SEIS that around 90 percent of all routes could be serviced by electric vehicles but did not analyze the costs and benefits of a 90 percent ZEV fleet. … Read More

USPS releases Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Next-Gen Delivery Fleet

Steve HutkinsBlog, Featured, News

The Postal Service has released its Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Next Generation Delivery Vehicles Acquisitions. The Postal Service proposes in this Draft SEIS to modify the current purchase plan in three primary ways: (1) substantially increase the minimum BEV commitment to 62 percent, (2) reduce the total number of vehicles proposed for purchase at this time to 106,480, … Read More

GAO says Action Needed to Improve Credibility of USPS Cost Assumptions for Next Generation Delivery Vehicles

Steve HutkinsBlog, News

GAO: The United States Postal Service’s (USPS) cost estimate for acquiring the next generation delivery vehicle followed most leading practices for a comprehensive, well documented, and accurate estimate. However, USPS did not fully use practices related to credibility from GAO’s Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide, such as including a sensitivity analysis of how different assumptions affected the underlying cost estimate. … Read More

Don’t Expect to Charge Your Electric Vehicle at the Stations USPS Plans to Build

Steve HutkinsNews

Government Executive: There are too many hurdles to allow the public to use the U.S. Postal Service’s forthcoming charging stations to juice up their own electric vehicles, according to the agency and a federal watchdog, even as the agency plans to add the capacity to tens of thousands of its facilities. USPS should, however, create plans to allow its own … Read More

GAO: Electric Vehicle Infrastructure: USPS Should Plan for Potential Workplace Charging

Steve HutkinsBlog, News

GAO: The United States Postal Service’s (USPS) facilities, such as post offices, could potentially provide the public and postal employees with electric vehicle chargers. For example, publicly-accessible chargers could serve community members without a charger at their home. Additionally, five of the 13 stakeholders GAO interviewed said employees would most benefit from chargers at USPS facilities, given the time available … Read More

Canada’s postal workers want to put public charging stations at post offices: Why can’t it happen here?

Steve HutkinsBlog, Featured

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has put forward a plan — Delivering Community Power — to transform the postal system in ways that will “fight climate change and deliver vital new services to every corner of the country.” Under the plan, post offices would offer new services, like high-speed internet; provide low-fee financial services; and expand their role as … Read More

Clearing up a few misconceptions about S&DCs and EVs

Steve HutkinsBlog, Featured

The Washington Post is reporting that the Postal Service plans to spend almost $10 billion for 66,000 electric vehicles and related infrastructure, a big win for the Biden administration and environmentalists. This is, of course, very good news, and one hesitates to throw cold water on the announcement. But unfortunately, in reporting on its scoop, the Post — as it … Read More