The U.S. Postal Service in Atlanta, Georgia is making some electrifying improvements in how they are delivering the mail. The South Atlanta Sorting and Delivery Center debuted the postal service’s first EV charging stations, with many similar stations expected to be deployed at “hundreds” of new sorting and delivery centers this year. It’s a key step in the Postal Service’s plan to put together one of the nation’s biggest EV fleets, made up of more than 66,000 delivery vehicles.
“In every neighborhood in America, people know their postal carrier and recognize the USPS vehicle driving down their street,” said John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation to USPS. “The work USPS is doing to electrify those vehicles is making EVs commonplace on every road and street in our country, while reducing air pollution and increasing comfort and safety for the dedicated public servants who deliver our mail.”
USPS is in the process of transforming approximately 400 locations into sorting and delivery centers, which will function as “hubs for deploying EVs along local carrier routes.” These centers will cover broader geographic areas compared to the traditional postal offices they are replacing. The first 14,000 EV chargers for the Postal Service will be produced by three companies: Siemens, Rexel / ChargePoint, and Blink.
This will be a huge improvement for not only the environment, but postal office workers as well. A significant portion of the Postal Service’s 217,000 trucks are over thirty years old, indicating a pressing need for modernization. Right now, around 34% of postal service vehicles have air conditioning, a detriment to those working in warmer climates. With modern vehicles, functioning AC, and the elimination of exhaust and pollution, postal workers will have a much cleaner, healthier, and safer working environment.
In addition, deploying modern, electric vehicles will mean more efficient delivery hauls. In the plan for new fleets, the vehicles will be much larger with more cargo space which will lower inefficient travel for workers, improve delivery operations and more space for package deliveries. By 2028, the USPS plans to introduce an additional 45,000 battery electric “Next Generation Delivery Vehicles” (NGDVs) manufactured by Oshkosh. This expansion will bring the total to a fleet of 66,000 electric vehicles. Thank you, Atlanta, for leading the way with these electrifying improvements!
