Trump may cancel US Postal Service electric mail truck contract, sources say

Blink Charging

06/12/2024 21:19

* 
      Trump transition weighs plan to cancel USPS contracts to
build
large EV fleet 
    

        * 
      Postal service plans to spend billions on EV chargers and
roughly 66,000 new trucks
    

        * 
      Contract cancellation likely part of sweeping executive
order on
EVs 
    

  
 (Adds analyst note in paragraphs 10-11)
    By Jarrett Renshaw and Alexandra Ulmer
       Dec 6 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's transition team is
considering canceling the U.S. Postal Service's contracts to
electrify its delivery fleet, as part of a broader suite of
executive orders targeting electric vehicles, according to three
sources familiar with the plans.
    The move, which could be unveiled in the early days of
Trump’s administration that begins on Jan. 20, is in line with
Trump's campaign promises to roll back President Joe Biden’s
efforts to decarbonize U.S. transportation to fight climate
change – an agenda Trump has said is unnecessary and potentially
damaging to the economy.
    Reuters has previously reported that Trump is planning to
kill a $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric vehicle
purchases, and plans to roll back Biden's stricter
fuel-efficiency standards.    
    The sources told Reuters that Trump’s transition team is now
reviewing how it can unwind the postal service's
multibillion-dollar contracts, including with Oshkosh  OSK.N 
and Ford  F.N , for tens of thousands of battery-driven delivery
trucks and charging stations. 
    Oshkosh shares fell by roughly 5% to 105.65 per share after
the Reuters report.  
    Oshkosh and Ford did not respond to requests for comment.
    In 2023, Congress gave USPS $3 billion as part of a $430
billion climate bill to buy EVs and charging infrastructure. It
plans to buy some 66,000 electric vehicles to build one of the
largest electric vehicle fleets in the nation by 2028.
    As part of that, Oshkosh is expected to deliver about 45,000
electric vehicles, with the remaining coming from mainstream
automakers like Ford, according to the USPS. The initial batch
of 14,000 chargers are being supplied by Siemens  SIEGn.DE ,
ChargePoint  CHPT.N  and Blink  BLNK.O , according to the USPS.
    The USPS is an autonomous federal agency with its own
governing board, making severing the contract legally
challenging. But Trump's stated policy aims are poised to test
the boundaries of executive power on a range of issues, from
trade to federal spending.
    In a note published on Friday, analysts from the investment
banking firm Jefferies said they don't see a total cancellation
as likely, but said the mix of vehicles could shift away from
EVs and toward fuel-powered. 
    "Given the need for the replacement of aging equipment, we
are confident that the USPS will be receiving new vehicles in
2025. The mix of that order could potentially change to appease
an administration that is more hostile to (EVs)," the analysts
wrote.
    The USPS did not respond to requests for comment. 
    Trump’s team did not comment directly on plans for the USPS
contract.
    "President Trump will protect the freedom of Americans to
drive whichever vehicle they choose, enhance his tough tariffs
on Chinese-imported cars, and save the U.S. auto industry for
generations to come. No policy should be deemed official unless
it comes directly from President Trump," Trump transition team
spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
    In 2021, Biden issued an executive order on EVs declaring
that 50% of all new passenger cars and light trucks would be
zero-emission vehicles. To achieve that goal, Biden directed
various federal agencies to undertake rules on new emission and
fuel standards designed to speed adoption of electric vehicles.

 (Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; editing by Richard Valdmanis,
Nick Zieminski, Deepa Babington and Jonathan Oatis)
 ((jarrett.renshaw@thomsonreuters.com; (646) 223-6193;))