Why doesn't The United States Postal Services use electric or hybrid vehicles?

Question

The United States Postal Services delivers our mail everyday around the nation which means gallons of gas are being used everyday, and gas isn't cheaper or getting cheap. Why don't they switch to electric or hybrid vehicles and save the tax payers some money as well as ease up on our dependence upon foreign oil? Also business like UPS, FedEx, and DHL could do the exact same thing.

Answer 1

Too costly and not practical at this time. UPS and FedEx are both using Mercedes Benz diesel vans which are fuel efficient. Diesel is the way to go if the price of the fuel will come down where it is supposed to be. Below gasoline.

Answer 2

because prius is a farse and the batteries are not recycleable and cost $5000 to replace.

Answer 3

Going out and purchasing a new fleet of vehicles is a costly proposition. Can you imagine how much the price of stamps or overnight delivery will go up if they tried something like that? Even individuals who have their personal cars paid for are reluctant to buy just yet. The cost of a new vehicle is still more than the extra money people are paying out in gas. Change is going to come but it won't happen overnight.

Answer 4

Well some companies are. One company is running experiment on an engine for a group of scientist that gets very good mileage (i think 60 mpg i'm not sure.)

Answer 5

You have a valid point.  In fact, the Japanese postal service just recently announced it's considering switching its fleet to electric cars.

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1728...

The only reason not to do this is the up-front cost.  The postal service has a lot of vehicles that would need replacing, and that's some seriously big bucks.  However, they would also save money on fuel in the long run.

Answer 6

I agree.  In my area, 1960-1970 era jeeps are still being used, and I know they do not get good gas mileage.  I would think a hybrid vehicle would be a great fit.  However, I think to replace them all would drive up postage costs.  But I think we would be able to live with it.  If the prices rose with the times like other commodities, stamps would be 50 cents.  I think the change would not be detrimental.  Maybe if Fedex, UPS changed, their stocks wouldn't keep dropping!!!

Answer 7

According to this 2006 press release:

http://www.usps.com/communications/news/...

The USPS was starting to experiment with Hybrid deliver trucks and at that point they had over 30,000 alternative fuel vehicles.

As to why they don't use more hybrids it may be an issue of up front costs. Yes they do save money on fuel but there is also a considerable upfront cost especially since these aren't stock vehicles. There is also the question of how expensive they will be to maintain considering the difficult conditions they operate under (lots of miles, constant stops and starts, etc).