Editor’s note: Written by Paul Steidler, a Senior Fellow with the Lexington Institute, a public policy think tank based in Arlington, Va. This is one in a series of periodic guest columns by industry thought leaders.
The U.S. Postal Service is in dire need of a clean, modern, and customized mail truck fleet and after rigorous and careful study has a sensible plan to get there. But Congress could mess this up and create additional problems by demanding an all-electric, non-emitting fleet as soon as possible while also imposing huge mandates on USPS which will needlessly cost the American people billions.
In a May 11 letter to President Biden, more than 50 lawmakers said, “There has never been a more critical time to ensure that all federal vehicles produce zero emissions, including the over 228,000 delivery vehicles operated by the Postal Service.”
Left unchecked, the practical consequences of such strident demands and accompanying legislation will be USPS having an even dirtier fleet in three years than it does today, longer delivery times for the American people, and tougher operating conditions for postal workers.