The coalition argues that the USPS signed a contract with Oshkosh before releasing those reviews and did not consider more viable alternatives that would've included a greater percentage of electric vehicles, among other alleged violations.Ī postman drives a United States Postal service (USPS) mail delivery truck through Washington, DC on August 13, 2021. Those 17 attorneys general allege that the USPS violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which directs all government agencies to conduct environmental impact statements and environmental assessments as part of their decision-making process. 3:22-cv-02583), claiming that it did not conduct a thorough environmental review of its plan to buy the vehicles and didn't consider viable, more efficient alternatives. District Court for the Northern District of California (Case no. In response to the Oshkosh selection, several states have brought a lawsuit against the agency in the U.S. Though postal workers are required to turn off their truck when away from trucks of its size, passenger cars, heavy trucks and light trucks consume 8 billion gallons of fuel a year through idling. USPS did say that it "anticipates taking advantage of the flexibility built into the contract with Oshkosh to increase the number of BEVs purchased in the initial delivery order."Īccording to the EPA, the current crop of postal trucks were originally rated for 16 mpg in the city and 18 on the highway. and Canadian governments for a wide variety of vehicles, also bid. General Motors, which has defense contracts with the U.S. When the contract was awarded to Oshkosh, it filed a legal complaint to get it overturned. Out of Ohio, Workhorse specializes in the development of last-mile delivery vehicles. The new USPS delivery vehicles are rated for 8.6 miles per gallon when the air conditioning is on. Only 10 percent of the initial trucks would be electric, which the company has less experience building than other bidders like Workhorse, an EV startup. That is the equivalent of burning 78 million pounds of coal, according to the agency. Though postal workers are required to turn off their truck when away from them, trucks of its size, passenger cars, heavy trucks and light trucks consume 8 billion gallons of fuel a year by idling. Oshkosh says that the vehicle's four-cylinder gasoline engine will have an average fuel economy of 14 miles per gallon (mpg), falling to 8.6 mpg when the air conditioning is on.Īccording to the Environmental Protection Agency, the current crop of postal trucks were originally rated for 16 mpg in the city and 18 on the highway. What it lacks, however, is fuel efficiency. USPS's Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) has fresh design, which has been compared to a cartoon character and comes with several upgrades over the classic truck, like air conditioning, automatic emergency braking and a 360-degree camera. Instead, the agency decided to award the multi-billion dollar contract to Oshkosh Corporation, a company that builds gasoline-powered vehicles for a variety of commercial and military applications. The United States Postal Service (USPS) had a chance to replace a significant portion of its vehicle fleet with electric vehicles (EV) last year.
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