USPS Seals Gasoline-Trucks Deal, Shunning Biden EV Plea

[jwzg]

In our new hometown, new developments are required to have concentrated mailboxes for which the driver gets out and stuffs the boxes. It certainly reduces the amount of driving. Plus the mail carriers get in significantly more exercise reducing health care costs--talk about unintended benefits!

In our case, electric makes more sense. However, in rural areas, a mix of gasoline/CNG/hybrid would make more sense. This doesn't have to all be done at once.

You people bringing up Brandon and Trump are stupid.

 

[jpevans]

They would have to be charged mid shift if not more frequently.

How many RFD's exceed 400+ miles per day.
p.s. Dejoy is just a dick, it's been clear since he took over he is out to bankrupt the only truly self sufficient government agency.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Any surplus energy being produced at night is most likely not Green. I am assuming you all are Greenies and would consider this important. Regardless of charging rate, the total KwH used must come from somewhere. If you all will encourage your governments to get off the Green Grid kick, then we might have enough grid capacity to handle EVs, including postal trucks. If it came from Nukes, that would be great. You all have your tunnel vision focused on the vehicle. I am talking about the grid, which the rest of us rely on for reliable power.

The pollution is happening anyway. Might as well use it for something. That's greener than just wasting the electricity.

 

[SuperDS77]

There is a local Dealership Ad comparing gas & electric miles per dollar (MPD). Gas $50. electric $7. assuming that's correct, how long are any savings gonna last? A week?

You are not accounting for the initial cost and maintenance costs.

From the "fact sheet" link in the article...https://info.oregon.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/True-Cost-of-EV-Ownership-Fact-Sheet-FINAL-1-9-20.pdf
"
Over five years and 75,000 miles of driving, the cost to own a new
compact electric vehicle is $7,704/annually, which is $590 or 8% more
per year than a comparable gas-powered car."

 

[SuperDS77]

it's been clear since he took over he is out to bankrupt the only truly self sufficient government agency.

You must have an interesting definition of "self sufficient"

U.S. Postal Service Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2021 Results - Newsroom - About.usps.com

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Postal Service today announced its financial results for the 2021 third quarter ended June 30, reporting a net loss of approximately $3.0 billion, compared to a net loss of approximately $2.2 billion for the same quarter last year. Excluding the combined effects of non-cash...

about.usps.com

"

U.S. Postal Service Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2021 Results​

• Quarterly loss of $3.0 billion, despite operating revenue increase of $845 million, compared to the same quarter last year
• Pandemic has significantly transformed the mix between mail services and Shipping and Packages volumes
• Significant improvements in service performance in the quarter; Continued investments to meet customers' evolving needs ahead of the 2021 holiday season

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Postal Service today announced its financial results for the 2021 third quarter ended June 30, reporting a net loss of approximately $3.0 billion, compared to a net loss of approximately $2.2 billion for the same quarter last year. Excluding the combined effects of non-cash workers' compensation adjustments due to fluctuations in discount rates and other actuarial revaluations, the loss for the quarter would have been approximately $2.3 billion, compared to a loss of approximately $2.4 billion for the same period last year."

 

[KingLeo]

You will never ever see an electric postal truck run out of juice because in 80-85% of cases, postal trucks travel very close to their home
post office.
They do not NEED any goddam 'public' charging stations because you don't see a postal truck from 90606 delivering mail to 76063...or even 90607.
God's sake people, do any of you Trumpers even take one minute to use your imagination to think about what a postal truck even does
every day?
Postal trucks only need ONE charging network, in the rear parking lot of their post office.
That's where they come FROM every morning and that is where they RETURN to every night.
And because these are generally LOW SPEED SHORT RANGE vehicles, they can get away with smaller and cheaper batteries
and slower charging systems.

Outside of that we're talking about over the road heavy trucks for regional distribution, which are not postal mail trucks
in the sense we are talking about.
We are only talking about the largest part of the fleet, the lowly little boxy trucks that crawl the surburbs and city streets
of America at slow speeds...Monday through Saturday, 8:00 to 5:00 PM.

If you can't even bother to put some thought into what kind of job a postal truck actually DOES, you don't
have any business yammering about how expensive postal trucks are, because you clearly don't have clue #1 about the subject.

Not sure you understood my post.
I am all FOR an all electric USPS fleet.
I was responding to another post saying how expensive electric is.

 

[Lovebug]

Range in miles wouldn’t really be an issue for the trucks but I can see how battery life it terms of minutes of use would be. Changing over the fleet slowly as the technology is tested in real world applications seems a smart move versus going all in in hopes the numbers on paper translate into real world figures

Changing them over slowly is the key here. Ten% is a start.

 

[Taylor]

How many RFD's exceed 400+ miles per day.

Electric delivery trucks can't get anywhere close to that range.

 

[jpevans]

You must have an interesting definition of "self sufficient"

U.S. Postal Service Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2021 Results - Newsroom - About.usps.com

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Postal Service today announced its financial results for the 2021 third quarter ended June 30, reporting a net loss of approximately $3.0 billion, compared to a net loss of approximately $2.2 billion for the same quarter last year. Excluding the combined effects of non-cash...

about.usps.com

"

U.S. Postal Service Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2021 Results​

• Quarterly loss of $3.0 billion, despite operating revenue increase of $845 million, compared to the same quarter last year
• Pandemic has significantly transformed the mix between mail services and Shipping and Packages volumes
• Significant improvements in service performance in the quarter; Continued investments to meet customers' evolving needs ahead of the 2021 holiday season

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Postal Service today announced its financial results for the 2021 third quarter ended June 30, reporting a net loss of approximately $3.0 billion, compared to a net loss of approximately $2.2 billion for the same quarter last year. Excluding the combined effects of non-cash workers' compensation adjustments due to fluctuations in discount rates and other actuarial revaluations, the loss for the quarter would have been approximately $2.3 billion, compared to a loss of approximately $2.4 billion for the same period last year."

Are you gonna make me report on the stupid Republican bill that required USPS to fund their Pension fund for 75 years in advance, within 10 years, that DeJoy also scrapped millions of $$$ of sorting machines & in general is betting against the agency that he heads. The USPS gets all it's funding from it sale of stamps & services.

 

[SuperDS77]

Are you gonna make me report on the stupid Republican bill that required USPS to fund their Pension fund for 75 years in advance, within 10 years,

Curious, did that bill become law?

that DeJoy also scrapped millions of $$$ of sorting machines

I need context. That may have been a good decision.

& in general is betting against the agency that he heads.

Opinion noted.

The USPS gets all it's funding from it sale of stamps & services.

Well something is not going well seeing that they had a QUARTERLY (2021 Q3) loss of $3billion. How are those losses to be covered?

"Self sufficient"? I would say "Self deficient".

 

[AliHajiSheik]

These two lines from the article seemed very relevant:

"The independent agency can now move forward with its $6 billion plan to begin purchasing as many as 165,000 mail trucks over the next 10 years from Wisconsin military truck maker Oshkosh Corp. "

"The Postal Service previously rejected a bid from fledgling electric-vehicle specialist Workhorse Group Inc. "

Contract fulfilment seems like it could be an important component in replacing the fleet. Perhaps there are other electric vehicle providers besides the Workhorse Group who aren't "fledgling" or perhaps it could be beneficial to national security to keep a military truck maker as a viable company.

There are likely some use cases in which EV's make sense, but who can say how much mail will be delivered in 10 years? The volume of mail was cut in half between 2002 and 2020. If indeed the volume continues to decrease, perhaps there will be fewer delivery stops so vehicles will be expected to travel further and EV vehicles will become less viable as a solution.

 

[Khayembii Communique]

You must have an interesting definition of "self sufficient"

U.S. Postal Service Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2021 Results - Newsroom - About.usps.com

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Postal Service today announced its financial results for the 2021 third quarter ended June 30, reporting a net loss of approximately $3.0 billion, compared to a net loss of approximately $2.2 billion for the same quarter last year. Excluding the combined effects of non-cash...

about.usps.com

"

U.S. Postal Service Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2021 Results​

• Quarterly loss of $3.0 billion, despite operating revenue increase of $845 million, compared to the same quarter last year
• Pandemic has significantly transformed the mix between mail services and Shipping and Packages volumes
• Significant improvements in service performance in the quarter; Continued investments to meet customers' evolving needs ahead of the 2021 holiday season

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Postal Service today announced its financial results for the 2021 third quarter ended June 30, reporting a net loss of approximately $3.0 billion, compared to a net loss of approximately $2.2 billion for the same quarter last year. Excluding the combined effects of non-cash workers' compensation adjustments due to fluctuations in discount rates and other actuarial revaluations, the loss for the quarter would have been approximately $2.3 billion, compared to a loss of approximately $2.4 billion for the same period last year."

In FY2021 the post office had positive net cash flow of $7bn.

Loading…

about.usps.com

 

[SuperDS77]

In FY2021 the post office had positive net cash flow of $7bn.

Loading…

about.usps.com

OK? Respectfully, what is your point?

Apparently still had more costs. $3billion in 3Q 2021.

 

[element94]

Another defeat for Team Brandon.

Who is Brandon?

 

[roguenuke]

Electric postal vehicles would make a lot of sense IF we had a green electric grid with ample capacity. We Don't. In my state, the powers that be have mandated the electric utility to close its coal plants, shed its interest in an out of state Nuke plant, and NOT have any gas powered back up/peak shaving capacity. We are anticipating rolling blackouts this summer, because the solar projects have been delayed by Covid. No one ever considered a backup plan or a safety margin.

They are telling us to turn our thermostats up. I use a little less than 300 KwH per month in my home. A Ford F150 Lightning is said to hold 100 KwH per charge. My total electric use is less than THREE fill ups for the Ford. If my neighbor buys one, how high will I have to set my stat, and how many hours will I have to do without my CPAP, to make up for this?

Hybrid vehicles would make sense now. Plug in vehicles--maybe in 20 years.

I live in NC. Our area has EV charging ports at Walmarts, Targets/malls, even in front of the science museum downtown. But you want to tell me that our infrastructure can't handle the impact of postal carrier vehicles on the network? BS.

 

[roguenuke]

Surplus capacity beyond that needed to service the current customers, which we Don't have. And note, while you are charging overnight, the sun is not shining, the wind is likely not blowing, and you probably do not have the battery capacity at the post office, or at the power plant, to handle large loads at night.

Are you unaware of how such systems work? The solar power generated by houses and buildings that have solar panels go into the electrical system (for many, at least in our area), and that reduces the load on the electrical grid during the day, then at night, the electrical grid can handle that extra "load". You act as if this is some huge amount of electrical draw when people are buying their own EVs and putting up EV charging stations at retail areas at record paces right now. How exactly would changing out postal vehicles for EVs over the next 10+ years be a bigger burden than the private cars being put on there now?

 

[Cope]

My original question: Why could they not purchase both and utilize both where they are deemed most appropriate?

 

[jpevans]

Curious, did that bill become law?

Well something is not going well seeing that they had a QUARTERLY (2021 Q3) loss of $3billion. How are those losses to be covered?

"Self sufficient"? I would say "Self deficient".

Yes the bill is presently law.
Get rid of DeJoy & put a real Patriot in his place.

 

[Chillfolks]

Changing them over slowly is the key here. Ten% is a start.

I totally agree. I can even see how in some communities they would be beneficial. The sudden shift was never going to happen and was unrealisti.

 

[jpevans]

My original question: Why could they not purchase both and utilize both where they are deemed most appropriate?

Because IMO Drumpf flunky DeJoy is heavily invested in privatizing mail delivery.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

I agree for urban and suburban areas, but there are plenty of rural areas that do not fit this profile at all.

We all want to make it easier to vote for rural minorities who have trouble getting to polling places, yet want to make mail delivery to them more difficult?

No one is expecting a 100% electric fleet. Rural is rural. We are discussing what will work for 80% of postal customers.

 

[Grand Mal]

Private taxi fleets are moving to EV because it is cheaper for them. Electric power is cheaper than gasoline and EVs have a fraction of the maintenance of gasoline vehicles. So, it makes economic sense for USPS to move to EV.

But you don’t care about facts. You just have an irrational desire for any plan of Biden’s to fail. You really don’t care if the Postal Service moved forward and taxpayers save money. You just get a boner when something Biden wants doesn’t happen. It’s sad that you don't want the best for your country and cheer when a president that does care about America has a setback.

The biggest float-plane airline in North America, Harbour Air out of Vancouver, is moving to an all-electric version of the DeHavilland Beaver.

Harbour Air to resume electric-powered Beaver flights as certification work begins

Canadian commuter airline Harbour Air expects to conduct additional flight tests of its electric-powered de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver as soon as next week as it builds off a successful first flight last month.

www.flightglobal.com

 

[aociswundumho]

The record of decision signed Wednesday represents the culmination of a failed lobbying effort by the Environmental Protection Agency and top Biden administration officials to persuade the Postal Service to shift course.

lol, Washington is so corrupt that the alphabet soup agencies even lobby each other.

Environmental groups are preparing to swiftly challenge the move in federal court, arguing the Postal Service is illegally justifying its decision with a fundamentally flawed analysis of the purchase plan that underestimates greenhouse gas emissions, relies on faulty economic assumptions and fails to consider alternatives.

Of course the USPS decision had nothing to do with any of that.

The Postal Service previously rejected a bid from fledgling electric-vehicle specialist Workhorse Group Inc.

...

The independent agency can now move forward with its $6 billion plan to begin purchasing as many as 165,000 mail trucks over the next 10 years from Wisconsin military truck maker Oshkosh Corp.

Oshkosh won the contract because of its superior political clout, end of story.

 

[jpevans]

So primitive he doesn’t realize the postal service can’t afford to have vehicles lying around charging for half the shift.

Battery technology is vastly improved, 400+ miles is easily possible.

 

[coyote505]

Are you unaware of how such systems work? The solar power generated by houses and buildings that have solar panels go into the electrical system (for many, at least in our area), and that reduces the load on the electrical grid during the day, then at night, the electrical grid can handle that extra "load". You act as if this is some huge amount of electrical draw when people are buying their own EVs and putting up EV charging stations at retail areas at record paces right now. How exactly would changing out postal vehicles for EVs over the next 10+ years be a bigger burden than the private cars being put on there now?

No One here has told me how your grid is generating night time electricity. Unless you have either hydropower or Nukes, I assume it its being generated by fossil fuel. This is exactly what your fellow Greenies are trying to ban. THEN, where does it come from?

I Don't distinguish between postal EVs and private EVs. I think that flogging the sale of Both, before expanding the grid, is foolish. The first responsibility of the grid is to provide electrical power to the existing uses, most of which can't substitute something else (would you want me running a gas powered generator during the blackout periods my Governor is proposing to handle shortages on the grid?). THEN to maintain a reasonable reserve capacity to deal with both breakdowns and extreme weather events, such as the freeze Texas suffered last winter. IF there is capacity left over, THEN it can be put in vehicles.

Areas east of the Mississippi used to, maybe still do, have less natural gas available than consumers want. Homes within city limits had gas available for their stoves and water heaters. However, if you wanted a gas furnace, you needed a permit from the gas company to install one. These were rationed according to the amount of gas that the company had available. My family heated with coal while waiting several years for a permit in one house. We heated with fuel oil while waiting for a permit for our next house. This was inconvenient, but it ensured that no one was going to freeze to death in a gas shortage.

What I would suggest for EVs, or any other proposed mass use of electricity, is that it require a permit from the power company under the same rationing by available supply. This permit would be required for the installation of a charging station.

However, if you park your EV in a carport with a solar roof, and charge it only from your own generation---More Power to You!