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Postal Service Head Says Aging Trucks Need Upgrades as Trump Eyes EV Plans

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says it is reviewing a proposal from the Crown corporation, but so far there is no indication that new talks are scheduled.

(Bloomberg) -- Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said the US Postal Service needs to replace its aging mail trucks and he wasn’t aware of an effort by the incoming presidential administration to cancel plans to buy electric vehicles.

“We need vehicles,” DeJoy said Friday in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “I have 100,000 vehicles I’m buying. When I get done with that, I have another 100,000 that are way past their useful life.”

The comments came after Reuters reported that President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is considering canceling contracts to electrify the mail delivery fleet. The possible move, part of a broader effort to roll back President Joe Biden’s EV policies, could be unveiled shortly after the new administration takes office on Jan. 20, according to the report, which cited unidentified sources familiar with the plans.

The transition team is exploring ways to unwind multibillion-dollar contracts, including with Oshkosh Corp. and Ford Motor Co., to provide battery-powered vehicles to the postal service, Reuters said.

DeJoy said he hasn’t had any communication from the Trump team on the possibility, and declined to comment further.

--With assistance from Chester Dawson.

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