USPS officials and other stakeholders generally were negative toward making stations at postal facilities available to the general public. Image: woodsnorthphoto/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe Postal Service’s need to install charging stations at its facilities as it expands its electric vehicle fleet offers the potential for employees to charge their personal vehicles while at work but the USPS is not fully taking that consideration into its planning, the GAO has said.
The report responded to a request from several members of the House who asked about possible use of the charging stations for purposes other than electrically filling up the Postal Service’s own EVs.
The GAO said that USPS officials and other stakeholders it interviewed generally were negative toward making stations at postal facilities available to the general public, for reasons including restrictions on offering non-postal products and services and that “hosting public chargers could be at odds with USPS’s goal of moving customers in and out of a facility quickly.” However, some did note potential benefits for USPS including “improving USPS’s reputation on environmental issues and enhancing its relevance.”
Views were more positive toward making the stations available to employees for their personal use, “given the time available to charge a personal vehicle during a work shift.” The report said that USPS has taken some steps toward that, including surveying some employees on their interest, but planning for the fleet chargers does not fully include the potential for sharing fleet chargers with employees, or for installing additional chargers for employees’ use.
GAO noted potential complications including “developing policies and potentially negotiating work rules with multiple employee organizations” on issues such as the need to move vehicles during work hours and whether a fee would be charged for using the chargers. But it also cited Energy Department guidance encouraging agencies to think long-term when building charging stations, saying that building employee use in the planning now “could spare USPS the expense of modifying facilities in the future.”
In response, USPS said it is considering whether to formally incorporate potential use by employees into its planning but that it is primarily focused on considerations involving its own vehicles.
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