The federal government shelled out over $3 billion to build 93 electric mail trucks, according to a report from the Washington Post. The trucks are drawing online criticism for their design, which some say resembles a duck.
In 2022, the federal government announced a $9.6 billion investment with the intent to put 66,000 electric mail trucks on the roads within five years. The investment was provided by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
The Postal Service anticipated 3,000 electric mail trucks by December 2024, still a fraction of the promised 66,000 anticipated to be in use by 2027. The blame is currently being placed on Oshkosh, a military and industrial vehicle manufacturer.
Engineers have reportedly struggled to calibrate the vehicles’ air bags, according to internal sources familiar with the manufacturing process.
The electric vehicles have reportedly failed water leak tests as well. When workers ran leak tests, water reportedly poured into the vehicles as if the windows had been left open.
Oshkosh’s current South Carolina factory is producing just one truck a day. Emails from top executives and internal progress reports reportedly show that the manufacturing plant intended to create more than 80 vehicles per day by now.
The Post reported that a senior executive within Oshkosh attempted to alert USPS to the manufacturing delays back in 2022, but was blocked by a superior.
The massive delays are likely to stop funding for the project altogether.
Despite the delays, the federal government honored the USPS with a “federal sustainability award” for its electric vehicle commitment. A commitment that looks unlikely to succeed.
An Oshkosh spokesperson claims that the company remains “on track to meet all delivery deadlines,” despite internal sources purporting otherwise.
“New vehicles are in service today, which have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from postal carriers,” the spokesperson said. The company did not respond to a list of detailed questions about the reported delays.
