Background
A key facet of the U.S. Postal Service’s Delivering for America plan is a nearly $10 billion investment to modernize its aging delivery vehicle fleet. The Postal Service plans to acquire 106,480 vehicles between fiscal years (FY) 2023-2028, 9,250 of which are E-Transits — a left-hand drive (LHD), battery electric vehicle (BEV). We previously reported that the Postal Service acquired 1,076 E-Transits between March 2023 and June 2024 (78 percent below its original plan). This audit provides an update to that report.
What We Did
Our objective was to assess the status of the Postal Service’s acquisition of E-Transit delivery vehicles. We reviewed related policies, milestones, and documentation; observed vehicles; and met with Postal Service Headquarters and local officials.
What We Found
The Postal Service acquired 7,465 E-Transits as of June 2025 (81 percent of the planned total), but acquisitions were 1,785 behind plan. This occurred primarily because of the limited number of delivery units with complete BEV charging infrastructure and compatible LHD routes to effectively use the vehicles. As such, the Postal Service worked with the supplier to delay further receipt and stored over 6,000 E-Transits at holding lots — some as long as 14 months — pending deployment to available units. While the Postal Service has a strategy to deploy all E-Transits over the next two years, this situation poses financial and operational risks. We estimate deployment delays will postpone over $78 million in expected savings between FYs 2025 and 2026. Developing a short-term mitigation strategy, including an analysis of related costs and assessing other options — such as divestment — could help reduce the impact of storing E-Transits in holding lots.
The Postal Service also incurred incremental staffing, equipment, and transportation-related costs associated with storing E-Transits in holding lots. We found E-Transit storage management issues at some facilities related to inconsistent data, preventative maintenance, battery charging, deployment, and contracting services due to gaps in management oversight and related controls and communication. We estimate questioned costs of $37,058 from February to April 2025.
Recommendations and Management’s Comments
We made six recommendations to address the issues identified in the report, and Postal Service management agreed with five and disagreed with one. We will pursue the disagreed recommendation through the formal audit resolution process. Management’s comments and our evaluation are at the end of each finding and recommendation
