Trump May Meddle in Plans to Electrify Postal Mail Trucks

The incoming Trump administration has threatened to cancel the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) groundbreaking plans to electrify its mail truck fleet, according to reporting from Reuters. In 2022, Earthjustice litigation and widespread public outcry over the agency’s initial plans to replace a majority of its aging vehicles with gas guzzling trucks prompted the Postal Service to instead electrify its vehicles.

Why it matters: USPS mail trucks represent more than one third of the federal government’s total fleet, one of the largest civilian fleets in the world. Electrifying the USPS fleet will save hundreds of millions of gallons of fuel, create thousands of clean energy manufacturing jobs, deliver cleaner air in every neighborhood in the U.S., and prevent 975,534 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year (the equivalent of 227,548 gas-powered cars).

“A president simply doesn’t have this kind of unilateral power,” says Earthjustice attorney Adrian Martinez, who represented our clients in court and has been a national advocate for electric mail trucks in the U.S.

What’s USPS’ current plan for electrifying mail trucks in the U.S.?

• In 2022, USPS announced plans to shift to predominantly electric mail truck purchases between 2023 and 2026, and a pledge to make all mail truck purchases electric starting in 2026.
• The Postal Service plans to eventually purchase up to 165,000 vehicles total, replacing a large swath of its fleet of over 200,000 gas-powered trucks.
• Of the 106,000 mail trucks USPS plans to purchase in the next few years, more than 60% will be electric.
• Electric mail trucks are already delivering mail in Georgia and Colorado with great enthusiasm from letter carriers and the American public for their safety features, efficiency, and comfort.

How did Earthjustice push USPS to electrify its fleet?

• Earthjustice — representing CleanAirNow and Sierra Club — and the Center for Biological Diversity sued USPS and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in 2022 for the decision to replace up to 90% of the postal truck fleet with fuel-guzzling trucks without a thorough environmental review.
• Earthjustice also successfully lobbied for $3 billion in electrification funds for USPS in the Inflation Reduction Act, helping to spur a wholesale transformation of the Postal Service’s delivery fleet.
• Federal and state agencies, scientists, labor organizations, environmentalists, and community groups submitted more than 35,000 comments to the Postal Service, protesting its plan to procure polluting mail trucks and urging USPS to instead invest in an electric fleet.
• Earthjustice supporters also sent 161,976 public comments to the Postal Service, expressing support for electrifying its fleet.

Why is it unlawful for President-elect Trump to cancel USPS’ electrification plan?

• Congress, not the President, allocated the funds to electrify USPS’ mail trucks. Trump’s plans, if allowed to go forward, would be an unlawful breach of power.
• The Postal Service is an independent federal agency with its own governing board, making the severing of the electrification contract legally challenging.
• Trump’s plans will mean uncertainty for the American manufacturers and their workers who have contracts in place to build the country’s electric mail trucks. Ford Motor Company, for example, has a contract to produce close to 10,000 electric vehicles for the Postal Service, many of which have already been deployed across the country. Another contract exists with Oshkosh, a specialty truck building company based in Wisconsin, which signed a 10-year contract to produce an initial order of 50,000 vehicles.
• Stay tuned: Earthjustice will be keeping a watchful eye on the USPS contract for electric mail vehicles and stands ready to act.