Sens. Schatz, Booker, Peters Urge Postal Service to Improve Safety and Reduce Emissions of Vehicle Fleet

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Cory A. Booker (D-N.J.), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), all members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, sent a letter to United States Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan urging the agency to take steps to modernize their 190,000-strong fleet of vehicles by investing in technology solutions to improve safety and reduce emissions.

“We applaud the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) recent issuance of a Request for Information for Next Generation Delivery Vehicle Acquisition Program, and recognize that this is an important first step toward modernizing the USPS fleet. This transition provides USPS with a unique opportunity to lead the country in the use of safer, more fuel efficient vehicles, made in the United States. We urge you to invest in cutting-edge vehicle improvements that will reduce emissions, decrease accidents, and save lives in communities across the country,” the senators wrote.

The letter continues, “At a time when budgets are tight, it is in our best interest to find creative ways to make prudent investments that save taxpayers money. Investing in proven safety technologies to reduce the rate of expensive accidents in the USPS fleet should be a priority.” 

A pdf version of the letter can be found here.

Megan J. Brennan
Postmaster General
United States Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20260

Dear Postmaster General Brennan:

We applaud the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) recent issuance of a Request for Information for Next Generation Delivery Vehicle Acquisition Program, and recognize that this is an important first step toward modernizing the USPS fleet. This transition provides USPS with a unique opportunity to lead the country in the use of safer, more fuel efficient vehicles, made in the United States. We urge you to invest in cutting-edge vehicle improvements that will reduce emissions, decrease accidents, and save lives in communities across the country.

Last year, the General Services Administration (GSA) and the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) formed a partnership to test and evaluate potential vehicle safety devices on GSA-leased vehicles in order to improve safety across the federal government’s vehicle fleet. Since USPS operates approximately 190,000 vehicles, new crash avoidance devices would have the potential to significantly reduce accidents, yielding serious cost savings as a result. For example, modern camera technology and radar can be used to warn drivers when a collision is imminent. Automatic braking can also help reduce accidents by cutting down on driver delays in response time. Borrowing on the success of the GSA-NHTSA partnership, we urge you to consider market ready collision avoidance technologies as well as collision avoidance technologies that will be available in the near term, in the proposals for a replacement USPS fleet.

At a time when budgets are tight, it is in our best interest to find creative ways to make prudent investments that save taxpayers money. Investing in proven safety technologies to reduce the rate of expensive accidents in the USPS fleet should be a priority. As you know, in recent years there have been over 20,000 motor vehicle accidents involving USPS vehicles annually. The United States is a world leader in innovation and we have an opportunity to integrate cutting edge technical solutions to improve service to the public, increase safety and ultimately savings. To that end, we seek your feedback on the following questions to help better inform us on how Congress might be helpful throughout this process:

1. What steps is the USPS taking to consider fleet safety improvements, including the use of market-ready crash avoidance technologies, as well as crash avoidance technologies that will be available in the near term?
2. What role can Congress play in helping to expedite the acquisition of a safe, efficient replacement fleet?
3. What role could a Public-Private Partnership play in implementing solutions-based transportation safety improvements in the replacement fleet?
4. What efforts are you making to ensure the new fleet will cut down on emissions and increase fuel efficiency?

Please keep us informed as the process moves forward. Again, we commend your efforts to modernize the USPS vehicle fleet, and we look forward to working with you on this important effort. 

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