The USPS has earmarked roughly $3 billion for updating its fleet of around 228,000 vehicles. Image: Nick Starichenko/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe Postal Service is experiencing delays in its vehicle fleet modernization program that “will continue to put the timelines for fleet modernization, cost savings, and sustainability at risk,” says an inspector general report.
The USPS has earmarked roughly $3 billion for updating its fleet of around 228,000 vehicles, with a focus on electric vehicles and “next generation delivery vehicles,” or NGDVs—custom-built for USPS specifications, most also to be electrically powered. The IG agreed that modernization is needed, saying that most current vehicles are beyond their expected service life, “making them expensive to maintain and operate”; more than half need more than $4,500 each in repairs annually, for a total cost of $745 million.
Many of them further “lack modern safety and operational features, such as airbags, traction control, collision avoidance systems, and air conditioning,” it said, also citing the greenhouse gas emissions of the large majority of them using internal combustion engines.
However, the report said that most of the 22,500 vehicles the USPS acquired in a 15-month period ending in June were internal combustion engine and commercial off the shelf vehicles—and the total was 23 percent lower than the original plans in the vehicle supplier contracts.
“Timely acquisition of these vehicles was mixed, with some arriving on time, while others experienced months long delays due to supplier design, production, and supply chain issues, or inadequate Postal Service infrastructure preparedness,” the report said. “For example, the original NGDV plan was to acquire over 3,050 vehicles by June 2024, but the most recent plan included only 28.”
Similarly, while contracts originally called for acquisition of 4,800 other battery-powered vehicles during the period, the USPS actually acquired fewer than 1,100, it said, noting that it recently reported on delays in installing the charging structures at postal facilities that such vehicles need.
The IG noted that management has “initiated a variety of mitigation efforts and contingencies” such as working more closely with suppliers but recommended further steps, including more attention in its strategic plans to the financial impacts of the delays. The USPS in turn said it already is doing enough but the IG disagreed, saying it would continue to press the issue.
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