The U.S. Postal Service has finalized a contract to replace its mail-truck fleet with almost all gasoline-powered models, drawing an angry response from Biden administration officials who unsuccessfully pushed the agency to buy electric vehicles instead.
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. 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. As many as 90% of those will run on gasoline instead of more climate-friendly batteries, according to the plan.
