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The Courts Transportation Government United States

16 States, Several Environmental Groups Sue USPS Over Purchase of Gas-Guzzling Mail Trucks (arstechnica.com) 209

Posted by BeauHD from the inefficient-vehicles dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The US Postal Service is facing lawsuits from 16 states and several environmental groups challenging its decision to buy tens of thousands of gasoline-powered delivery vehicles instead of electric vehicles. As previously reported, the Environmental Protection Agency says the gas-powered trucks being ordered by the USPS "are expected to achieve only 8.6 miles per gallon (mpg), barely improving over the decades-old long-life vehicles that achieve 8.2 mpg." The USPS countered that the vehicles get 14.7 mpg when air conditioning isn't being used and that the trucks' size will make it possible to deliver the same amount of mail in fewer trips. The USPS plan is to buy 50,000 to 165,000 vehicles over 10 years. Of those, at least 10 percent are slated to be battery-electric vehicles (BEV). [...]

A lawsuit filed by California and 15 other states on Thursday said the USPS failed "to follow a process mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)," continuing: "Instead, the Postal Service first chose a manufacturer with minimal experience in producing electric vehicles, signed a contract, and made a substantial down payment for new vehicles. Only then did the Postal Service publish a cursory environmental review to justify the decision to replace 90 percent of its delivery fleet with fossil-fuel-powered, internal combustion engine vehicles, despite other available, environmentally preferable alternatives. In doing so, the Postal Service failed to comply with even the most basic requirements of NEPA."

The lawsuit seeks an injunction forcing the USPS to stop the vehicle purchases "until it has complied with NEPA." It was filed against the USPS and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who was appointed by the USPS Board of Governors in 2020 under then-President Donald Trump. All 16 states involved in the lawsuit have Democratic attorneys general. They allege that the USPS "violated well-established legal precedent prohibiting 'an irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources' before completing the NEPA process by signing contracts with a defense company (Oshkosh Defense, LLC) to procure vehicles six months before even releasing its draft environmental review and a year prior to issuing the Final Environmental Impact Statement ('Final EIS') and Record of Decision." The states also claim the USPS failed to consider and evaluate reasonable alternatives. "Specifically, the Postal Service did not properly evaluate several environmental impacts of its action, including air quality, environmental justice, and climate harms, by simply assuming that any upgrade to its vehicle fleet would have positive impacts on the environment," the complaint said. States also alleged the USPS "failed to ensure the scientific integrity of its analysis by relying on unfounded assumptions regarding the costs and performance of electric vehicles, infrastructure, and gas prices, and refusing to identify the source of the data relied upon in the Final EIS." "The Postal Service conducted a robust and thorough review and fully complied with all of our obligations under NEPA," a USPS spokesperson told Ars.

The statement continues: "The Postal Service is fully committed to the inclusion of electric vehicles as a significant part of our delivery fleet even though the investment will cost more than an internal combustion engine vehicle. That said, as we have stated repeatedly, we must make fiscally prudent decisions in the needed introduction of a new vehicle fleet. We will continue to look for opportunities to increase the electrification of our delivery fleet in a responsible manner, consistent with our operating strategy, the deployment of appropriate infrastructure, and our financial condition, which we expect to continue to improve as we pursue our plan."
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16 States, Several Environmental Groups Sue USPS Over Purchase of Gas-Guzzling Mail Trucks More

16 States, Several Environmental Groups Sue USPS Over Purchase of Gas-Guzzling Mail Trucks

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  • I'm no greenie... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 29, 2022 @10:37PM (#62491042)

    ... but man, these gas-powered trucks are stupid. If there was ever an application where EVs made sense, it's this one.

    Why is Louis DeJoy still in charge of the USPS? That's not what I voted for.

    • Re:I'm no greenie... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 29, 2022 @11:03PM (#62491078)

      The USPS is one of the most efficient and well run of all government bodies. It's far from perfect but better than anything else.

      Because of being too good they are hamstrung by other governments and their cronies that want to steal the money savings that the USPS generates. There is a huge disinformation campaign to discredit the USPS even though they're kicking ass.

      Because of all this they are under enormous unreasonable budget constraints. Within those constraints the old gas trucks are the only option without degrading service.

      So what we see is again they're forced to make unpopular decisions so people can point out "oh, look how bad they are!" corruption pushing a narrative of how bad the USPS is when it's not their fault at all. All in a successful ploy to steal their money.

      Citizens should be pissed off this is happening. Mail is one of the essentials of a functioning society and greedy dickheads are trying to destroy it.

      • The USPS is one of the most efficient and well run of all government bodies.

        That doesn't mean they make good strategic decisions, it just means they run a tight day to day ship and deal with boneheadded management.

        Because of all this they are under enormous unreasonable budget constraints.

        Now if only there was a way to get costs down like oh say... switch to EVs with their massively reduced running costs compared to gas guzzlers.

    • Why is Louis DeJoy still in charge of the USPS?

      He hasn't resigned, and the other members of the board of governors have not voted to remove him.

      They serve 7 year terms, so Biden has not had a chance to appoint a significant number of replacments.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by narcc ( 412956 )

      Why is Louis DeJoy still in charge of the USPS?

      My guess is that the board and the DOJ fear confrontation.

    • Re:I'm no greenie... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Saturday April 30, 2022 @07:59AM (#62491600) Homepage Journal

      Some contend that the mail has to be delivered even if the power is out for days, so liquid fueling makes sense. But because of the extreme stop and go nature of their travel, it absolutely, positively does not make sense for postal vehicles to not be electrified at all.

      To wit, every postal vehicle which is not a full EV should be either a plug in or at minimum mild hybrid. A mild hybrid offers up to 80% of the benefit of a full hybrid (though not a plug-in) for a dramatically reduced cost, because it has a drastically smaller battery. The technology also makes auto start-stop work properly, by making it seamless. The same motor that moves you away from a stop starts the engine, instead of having to start moving and then start it up.

      It is fully idiotic for any short route delivery vehicle to not be electrified, and it's obviously crony corruption in this case. DeJoy needs to be run out of town on a rail, and that rail needs to be run into a bottomless pit.

      • First thing I did was Ctrl+F for "hybrid".

        Not only do they use less fuel, it's less wear & tear on nearly every part of the engine, and less brake pad usage, which means a reduction in brake dust (a known carcinogen). Maintenance should be less frequent, so costs should be reduced, along with down time. Vehicles which do a lot of 'stop and go' driving, as you say, are particularly ideal candidates-- why run the engine all the time when you spend so much time at a standstill?

        I've been pretty ast
        • This new fleet not being electric is purely a budget issue.

          The USPS has a limited budget for replacing the fleet and electric vehicles are more expensive right now so they cant afford more than 10% EVs.

          There's also the issue of charging. Many of the USPS buildings are old and would need significant upgrades to support charging a fleet of trucks. That also needs to be added to the budget.

          I'm sure they would have liked to go more EV in the fleet, but with the Republicans trying to kill the USPS for the las

          • If we assume that the average postal route is about 50 miles and the new delivery vehicle gets 8.5mpg they are spending $25/day per vehicle on gas, or $7,800/year. At $0.25/kWh and 250Wh/mi, electric would be $3/day, or $6,850/yeaer in savings.

            EV batteries are $200/kWh. Assume they size the battery for a worst-case scenario and go with 40kWh (160 mile range). The cost of the battery is paid off in 1.5 years with gas savings. If USPS has a cash flow issue then they should lease-to-own the vehicles throug

            • Re:I'm no greenie... (Score:4, Informative)

              by CaptainLugnuts ( 2594663 ) on Saturday April 30, 2022 @02:48PM (#62492418)
              You can go over the number yourself. The requirements are laid out in other publications.

              IIRC the average semi-rural rout was ~100 miles. so they need a little more range than you guessed.

              The claim of $500 per vehicle for charging is laughable. Perhaps a Level 2 charger might cost $500 in quantity, but when you need 50 of them running simultaneously the building's infrastructure needs a significant upgrade. That shit ain't cheap.

              As for not needing them all in the same year, the spec needs to be the same for all the vehicles to keep long-term costs down so not getting them all now doesn't mean a damn thing.

      • Generators at the base stations probably costs less than hybrids with all their complexity.

    • so why do ups, fedex, and amazon not get sued?

    • ... but man, these gas-powered trucks are stupid. If there was ever an application where EVs made sense, it's this one.

      Or hybrids. Or diesel. Or a vehicle (like mine) which stops the engine when the vehicle stops.

      I wonder if we're talking the typical USPS delivery van/truck things. That they get 9 MPG seems odd: that's quite low. OTOH, they're not small vehicles and they have an unusual driving pattern: all stop and start with periods of idling. As AC points out, ideal use cases for electric or any other vehicle which doesn't use any energy when stopped and regenerative braking.

      I also wonder why we have to go to a defense

    • Maybe, but 40 trillion trucks require some infrastructure to support them, not to mention the ability to churn out that many and have them be remotely reliable.

  • Do electric trucks even exist? (Score:3)

    by peppepz ( 1311345 ) on Saturday April 30, 2022 @12:45AM (#62491220)
    I'm not trolling, I've seen electric buses but never trucks. There must be something wrong with their economy, because if there's an industry that is desperate about cutting fuel costs it's transportations, so they should be adopting electric trucks en masse now if they were cheaper to operate.

    • Ford is releasing an all-electric and a hybrid this year. Chevy is releasing two electric models next year. Amazon, UPS and FedEx are all testing prototypes.

      • I mean trucks for commercial transportation of goods, not personal / small business vehicles like SUVs. And if they are prototypes, they aren't something that is available for purchase, and certainly not something that one can be sued for not adopting, yet.

        • Volvo sells them. See for example https://www.volvogroup.com/en/... [volvogroup.com]

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by q_e_t ( 5104099 )

          I mean trucks for commercial transportation of goods, not personal / small business vehicles like SUVs.

          Large truck are not generally used for last-mile delivery of post as the USPS replacement is for. They aren't generally in production yet as EVs as they need to be able to do a long distance with a heavy load. It will come, though. For the USPS replacement, there are BEV options, though.

        • Trucks as in 18 wheelers aren't really a thing because the power density doesn't work out for long haul - battery weigth eats into useful cargo capacity too much.

          Delivery trucks/vans are absolutley a thing though, our local grocery delivery service uses some custom EV thing. Ford is now selling the E-Transit [youtube.com] which an EV Transit used by local deliveries or services.

      • Don't forget there actually are a few Rivians on the road. (I know, I know)

        But to answer the original question, and assuming trucks mean pickup trucks (slightly different answer for semis) it's the use case. A pickup truck is expected (not that most people do) to be able to haul heavy loads or trailers, away from fast charging / nonstop long distances. Until recently there's been a lack of solutions that even attempt to address those issues (because it would have meant something like $300k for an absolutely

    • I'm not trolling, I've seen electric buses but never trucks.

      I've seen a few electric vans out and about.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by q_e_t ( 5104099 )

      I'm not trolling, I've seen electric buses but never trucks.

      Electric vans (USPS 'trucks') I have seen in the UK and Europe. I considered buying one of the electric versions of the more car-sized ones about eight years ago, and ones of that size are used for delivering mail in the UK. Eight years ago the mileage wasn't quite there for my use, although it would be now. It was already adequate for a lot of light delivery requirements back then in Europe, though. The downside was high initial cost and a mileage payment to cover the cost of a battery replacement. Now bat

    • 10% of the new USPS fleet will be electric. They say they are using EVs where it makes sense.

    • I'm not trolling, I've seen electric buses but never trucks.

      Of course there are electric trucks. There have been electric trucks for years. They have mostly been niche vehicles because the battery technology has not been that great until recently. Now there are multiple full-EV pickup trucks coming to market. Rivian, Ford, GM, others. (Rivians are allegedly delayed right now because they can't get the light colored wood for the dashboards. Ignoring the fact that light colored dashboards are shit. But anyway...)

      There must be something wrong with their economy, because if there's an industry that is desperate about cutting fuel costs it's transportations, so they should be adopting electric trucks en masse now if they were cheaper to operate.

      FedEx and UPS are both starting to receive EVs now. If t

  • If the total cost of Ev's were truly less than gas. No government or activist actions could stop the 100% adoption of EV's by the public. The public economy would not miss that math.
    The good news is, Once the math works, the market will follow.

    • If the total cost of Ev's were truly less than gas. No government or activist actions could stop the 100% adoption of EV's by the public.

      Automakers are selling EVs as fast as they can make them. There is also the issue of cash up front vs. TCO. Some people can't get a car loan, or at least, can't get one worth having. And finally, there's the BUT MUH FREEDUM crowd, who thinks that their gasser makes them a rugged individual.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kremmy ( 793693 )
      The economy is constantly missing the math. It relies on that particular aspect to function.

  • Solution: USPS publishes Operations Research (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Canberra1 ( 3475749 ) on Saturday April 30, 2022 @10:02AM (#62491834)
    Operations Research is the art of making the best decisions. It is Math, so the findings are impartial. EV is NOT cost effective in many situations, especially as battery packs will be flogged to death with charge cycles way too soon. Just hear the squawks when USPS releases the FULL environmental costs for making one battery pack. The costs of refining Nickel. Yes, Air-conditioning is important , and we keep the same like-like equations for super hot and super cold areas. Hills, like in SFO will also kill cost advantages. USPS knows about volume of deliveries - so truck capacity must be the same. EV only wins in one situation: where there is severe traffic congestion and the 1/2 size van can do it in one run only. (or Japanese style narrow streets) If we say we use trucks with 1/2 the capacity, then 1/2 the morning mail will not be delivered in the first run - maybe after lunch then. Parcel volume is GROWING. The risk/reward matrix makes diesel a no brainer. The cost for parking the vans overnight vs more for smaller ones, with real estate values sky high, also works against EV's. The USPS should release voluntary 'Green EV postage stamps' where every dollar donated is used to build a EV fleet over time. That would work.
  • Let's use all the 5,000 EVs that will be purchased under this contract in the state of California.

    Then an accurate picture of the effect that an overhaul to EVs will have on the power grid.
    While an apparent good use of EVs in urban and suburban settings, will the existing power grid provide enough power without failing (either brown outs or black outs).
    Is the Power-Grid Infrastructure in place to support massive amounts of EVs?

    • Calif power grid is not capable of supporting the current hydrocarbon economy, much less an all-electric one.

  • ... postal services in other nations teamed up with manufacturers to develop custom-tailored EV delivery trucks for those needs.

  • But would they be suing if USPS had failed to follow the law and chosen EV's?

  • Maybe we should look at mail delivery in general. I have an LLC and my state mandates that a third party maintains a mailing address. That company in essence takes the mail, opens it, scans it, and then e-mails me what the letter said. That might not fit for all cases but in the case of personal or private correspondence we may have to have a new class of mail rather than "everything first class." I don't know, it's just a thought.

    Most of what I get in the mail isn't correspondence, it's bills or junk mail

  • The question to ask the furious, in this case as in all similar cases, is: how much difference would it make?

    How much difference would it make to global emissions and global temperatures if the USPS were to go with electric trucks?

    I think we know the answer: None.

    So tell us, why is it so important to do it?

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