The U.S. Postal Service is set to spend $10 billion over the next five years to shift the makeup of its fleet of mail trucks to include more electronic delivery vehicles.
The shift comes as the result of pressure from numerous environmental organizations, state governments and the Biden administration to transition the USPS fleet of more than 230,000 vehicles to more environmentally friendly options.
In April, several activist groups and 16 U.S. states filed lawsuits against the USPS to halt its purchase of thousands of gas-powered trucks
The CleanAirNow Coalition, a Kansas City based non-profit that is dedicated to improving air quality and preventing disease caused by air pollution, was one of the groups that joined the suit.
Beto Martinez, the executive director of CleanAirNow, told KCUR's Up To Date that the change is long overdue for what is one of the largest civilian vehicle fleets in the world.
“It's interesting, because the manufacturers and industry, they're already there with the technology,” said Martinez. “This is an opportunity for them to shift into that direction.”
According to a statementreleased by the USPS, the organization plans to purchase at least 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028, and end the purchase of non-electric vehicles by 2026.
“We have a statutory requirement to deliver mail and packages to 163 million addresses six days per week and to cover our costs in doing so — that is our mission," Postmaster General Louis DeJoy wrote in the statement. "As I have said in the past, if we can achieve those objectives in a more environmentally responsible way, we will do so.”
“I think this is a very good step forward,” Martinez said. “It shows the benefits it has to the climate, public health, and most importantly, it shows the direction that the administration has also set forward to prioritize our local communities across the country.”
- Beto Lugo-Martinez, executive director of CleanAirNow KC
