After more than a year of relentless activism from Earthjustice supporters, the Postal Service committed to electrify most of its new fleet, and will buy only electric mail trucks after 2026. The degree to which activists like you moved the needle on this issue cannot be overstated. Fifteen months ago, the Postal Service only planned to electrify 10% of its new trucks. Between then and now, Earthjustice supporters sent 162,000 letters calling for electrification, pushed Congress to appropriate $3 billion for new electric trucks, and ultimately compelled the Postal Service to meet the moment. However, there's still work to be done.
Despite the welcome news, there’s still a lot of work that remains ahead of us. First, the Postal Service’s announcement last month is just that — an announcement. The legal process to finalize the decision will take place in the spring through the late summer. We’ll follow up with you then to make sure your voice is heard in that comment period.
Second, the Postal Service is still purchasing some gas-guzzling trucks, particularly what are known as “commercial off-the-shelf trucks” (COTs), which are vehicles that aren’t specifically designed to be mail trucks. As planned, half of its COTs purchases will be gas-guzzlers — unless we get involved. Like we did with the rest of the new trucks, we’re going to push hard to electrify as many COTs as possible.
In the coming decade, electric trucks will finally relieve the old, gas-guzzling trucks of their mail routes. When your mail carrier drives an electric truck down your street, you should take pride in the fact that you made that happen — you took a niche, longshot campaign and made it a national priority, and everyone will breathe cleaner air because of it. This is what we can accomplish when we work together and advocate for what we believe in.
Let’s enjoy this victory and acknowledge the work that lies ahead. Join us in thanking the Postal Service for listening to the public and call on it to do more.
