The U.S. Postal Service could soon face its strongest pressure yet to pause its contract to overhaul its fleet, with House Democrats scheduling a preliminary vote to require the mailing agency to further assess purchasing electric vehicles.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who chairs the House Oversight and Reform Committee, will introduce and hold a vote on the Ensuring an Accurate Postal Fleet Electrification Act on Wednesday. The measure would invalidate the existing environmental impact study USPS conducted on its contract with Oshkosh Defense to buy primarily internal combustion engine vehicles and force it to conduct a new one. Oshkosh will manufacture up to 165,000 trucks and earn billions of dollars under the contract, though only 10% of the vehicles will be electric under postal management’s existing commitment.