US Postal Workers Love Their New Electric Mail Trucks! – CleanTechnica

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New electric mail trucks have been spotted in communities across the US. It’s been all smiles for carriers since the US Postal Service launched its new fleet of electric mail trucks.

What’s new with the new USPS electric mail trucks? Nearly everything, as the design of the vehicles hasn’t had an upgrade since the 1980s. Carriers had offered ideas for improving their vehicles for years, and some of their suggestions were incorporated into the final design. These vehicles offer a 360-degree camera, side cargo door for loading and unloading packages, storage space extraordinaire, and air conditioning — so au courant!

Since the 1980s, the Postal Service has been relying on a vintage fleet of about 230,000 Grumman Long-Life Vehicle delivery trucks. These are purpose-built mail delivery trucks that were designed to cut costs by staying in service for much longer than the typical fleet vehicle. They’ve given their all, and it’s time to say goodbye to the Golden Era of basic USPS transit.

Out goes the classic boxy mail truck; in comes a vehicle with front end lower to the ground for aerodynamic gains and a clear view of the road ahead. An enormous windshield replaces the limited visibility of the original. No longer do carriers have to rely on a dashboard fan for cabin cooling. Nonslip surfaces, doorstep lights, and a third windshield sun visor — all are improvements over the austere original design. New safety upgrades include airbags, automatic emergency braking, and a collision-avoidance system. (Wasn’t it negligent to ask workers to drive vehicles for the last couple of decades without these features?)

With more cargo space, carriers now have space to accommodate the increased number packages and far fewer letters and magazines than had been the typical shipments years ago. Tiny rear cargo space is a thing of the past — no longer do carriers have to crouch inside to grab packages. Carriers can walk inside the electric mail truck and retrieve packages — no more stooping needed. In fact, the side cargo door is much safer than the former rear door, which resulted in multiple postal worker injuries from oncoming vehicles and some deaths.

And what a change it will be to have reliable electric transportation instead of constant breakdowns that carriers learned to endure!

The quiet does takes some getting used to, mail carrier Ykeyler Barnes told the New York Times. She pushed the starting button but didn’t hear anything. So Barnes called in a mechanic to check it out. Then she learned “you just can’t hear it because it’s electric,” and had a good self-deprecating laugh.

The electric mail trucks have about 70 miles per full charge, which exceeds the average 12 to 15 miles of daily driving of most city letter carriers. Workers now plug and unplug their electric mail trucks for charging without much thought as part of their daily routines.

The Office of the Chief Sustainability Officer of the US notes that the Postal Service’s new target of 66,000 electric vehicles surpasses the minimum for federal fleet electrification set by the Biden-Harris administration. “The US Postal Service (USPS) is leading by example,” the Sustainability Office explains, referring to fleet electrification. That, along with plans for installing thousands of new EV charging stations, was impressive enough to earn the Postal Service a 2024 Presidential Sustainability Award in the category of “Electrifying the Federal Fleet.”

With more than 231,000 vehicles, the Postal Service owns one of the largest civilian vehicle fleets in the world. Almost 90% of the energy stored in the batteries of EVs is used to move them forward. Because the EVs in USPS service don’t burn fuel, there is no thermodynamic penalty for converting heat to motion. Also, these EVs can recapture some of that energy during deceleration through a process known as regenerative braking.

On average across the US, exchanging a gasoline-powered vehicle for an EV will lower the energy needed for driving by about 47%, according to Yale Climate News. That number will increase in the future as renewable energy replaces thermal generating sources. Now we just have to wait for the remainder of the USPS fleet to be replaced with electric mail trucks.

The Original Plan For Electric Mail Trucks For USPS Took A Lot Of Tweaking

The USPS fleet makeover saga accelerated in force in 2021, when Postmaster DeJoy proposed to replace the Postal Service’s fleet with new delivery vehicles under the euphemism Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV). Initially, the goal was to enhance driver safety and comfort. With most of the original 165,000 vehicle fleet past its intended 25-year lifespan, fuel efficiency and fleet reliability also needed serious attention.

Was there any original contemplation of electrification? Nope. After some criticism started to emerge, about 10% of the new delivery trucks were designated to be electric. Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with around 8.6 miles per gallon would be plenty fine. DeJoy wouldn’t hear of increasing the EV overall fleet percentage, citing high upfront costs and budget constraints.

Anyone with knowledge of transportation emissions recognized immediately that DeJoy’s counternarrative would infuse more ICE vehicles on the roads for decades, contributing to rather than fighting climate emissions. Attorneys general from 16 states and the District of Columbia, along with five environmental groups and the United Auto Workers, sued the agency over the decision.

The EV numbers were upped to 40% electric after much wrangling and lawsuits. Then the Inflation Reduction Act included $3 billion for the Postal Service to electrify its fleet. Upgrades to hundreds of facilities across the country to accommodate EVs would mean installing chargers and streamlining delivery operations to increase efficiency. The USPS agreed that 75% of the vehicles would eventually be electric.

The Postal Service ordered 50,000 of the new trucks in March 2022, according to Oshkosh Defense, the Wisconsin company that won the contract to produce the vehicles at a plant in Spartanburg, SC. CleanTechnica writer Tina Casey notes that the NGDV contract was controversial, as Oshkosh Defense is not a firm particularly known for its work in the electric vehicle field. Oshkosh did design its NGDV to accommodate either battery-electric drive or an ICE, depending on the Postal Service ultimate decision-making. Word on the streets is that the design was retrofit-friendly in case another future decision emerged and ICEs would be replaced them with electric drives.

The fleet of 66,000 new electric vehicles will include 9,250 E-Transit vans along with other off-the-shelf models, for a total of 21,000 electric mail truck. In the meantime, Oshkosh is expected to deliver at least 45,000 of its electric NGDVs by 2028.

I spoke to our local mail carrier today as she was filling the mailboxes. I asked if she was going to get one of the new electric mail trucks. She sighed, shrugging her shoulders and saying that our area “would be the last to get one.” She is disappointed: she wants to drive an EV everyday for work.

These electric mail trucks are the shining star of the USPS $9.6 billion investment to modernize its fleet of aging delivery vehicles.