USPS sticks with decision to buy inefficient 8.6 mpg trucks

Enlarge / The Next Gen Delivery Vehicle looks adorably goofy, but the vast majority of these new mail trucks will belch almost exactly as much carbon dioxide into the air as the old Grumman LLV trucks. (credit: USPS)

In February 2021, the United States Postal Service made a controversial decision to replace its fleet of aging and inefficient mail trucks with a new fleet made up almost entirely of new, inefficient diesel mail trucks. Although the vast majority of USPS delivery routes are ideally suited for electric vehicles, the USPS decided that a mere 10 percent of the planned order would be battery electric.

In early February 2022, that decision resulted in severe criticism from the US Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality, who accused the Postal Service of failing to properly examine the environmental impact of its decision, as required by law.

This week, the USPS released its final record of decision and record of environmental consideration for the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle purchase. And it's bad news for anyone who cares about climate change or air pollution, as the Postal Service has dug in and refuses to alter its plans. That means that 90 percent of the 50,000-165,000 NGDVs that are being ordered will use gasoline and will only average 8.6 mpg (28.86 L/100 km) when used with air conditioning.

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