Friday, April 17, 2009

Plugged in -- an electric fleet?

USPS Commissioner Ruth Goldway published a op-ed last month, suggesting that part of the federal stimulus program be spent on converting USPS vehicles to electric.

Goldway said this, "Converting just the 142,000 standard delivery trucks would reduce gasoline consumption by up to 68 million gallons a year and save the Postal Service millions of dollars."

The logic is along these lines: Our fleet of 219,000 vehicles is aging -- and there are no new purchases planned. Our Long-Life vehicles, most of them produced 25 years ago, are servicable, but not practicle with the modern mail mix.. And many routes are short -- well within the range of an overnight charge to an electric delivery vehicle.

The logic against an electric fleet is the initial outlay -- and the cost of coal-fired plants producing electricity to run our fleet.

What do you think about this idea?

Read the whole editorial here, and then leave a comment here.

3 comments:

grannybug said...

I would like to see the funds used to tie into using solar power and wind power for generating electricity to run the vehicles so money can be saved and we will be using renewable resources.

Sheryl M said...

Electric vehicles are definately the vehicles of the future. But why stop there? To offset the cost and pollution caused by coal or hydro generated electricity, start installing solar power in facilities. This will help power the entire facility as well as recharging te vehicles. It will be costly at the onset but perhaps the government will help with the finances or co-operative deals can be worked out with providers of the vehicles and solar power units. In the long run it will save money and generate good publicity as being an environmentally conscientious organization.

Anonymous said...

Where does the funding for new Electric vehicles come from? They are much more expensive than regular vehicles I guess! I prefer using existing vehicles and use Lean Sigma methods to save on cost and strategic operation decisions to reduce expenses that can be avoided.