Davin News Server

On 2024-12-27 18:34, AlleyCat wrote:
> 
> On Fri, 27 Dec 2024 17:39:22 -0800, Alan says...
> 
>>> "Our commitment to an electric fleet remains ambitious given the 
>>> pressing vehicle and safety needs of our aging fleet as well as
>>> our dire financial condition," (kept in place by Biden),
>>> Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in a statement on Sunday.
>> 
>> You added the text "(kept in place by Biden)" to that paragraph,
>> Pussey.
> 
> So?
> 
> And?
> 

So you're lying.

Biden had no AUTHORITY to dismiss DeJoy.

>> But if you're saying that DeJoy is a problem
> 
> Obviously, DeJoy wasn't the problem he is under BIDEN, or Trump
> would have tried to fire him. You KNOW this.
> 
> Trump fired all that he didn't like or who fucked up. But alas, he
> couldn't have, but let's focus on the NOW, deflector-when-he's-
> losing.
> 
>> then why did Trump not remove him?
> 
> You are a dumb ass.
> 
> Excerpt: During his first weeks in office, President Joe Biden has
> ousted a number of powerful officials appointed by Donald Trump. One
> controversial figure from Trump's presidency, however, remains in
> office: Louis DeJoy.
> 
> Progressives are furious that DeJoy has kept his post, but Biden's
> hands are tied: While the president can fire other high-ranking
> executive officials at will, federal law bars the president from
> terminating the postmaster general under any circumstances. Biden
> can attempt to oust DeJoy indirectly, but that option is fraught
> with legal uncertainties. Unless the president is willing to take a
> significant legal risk, DeJoy will remain in control for months or
> years to come.
> 
> Biden can't fire DeJoy, but you know what he CAN do? NOT promise AND
> order EVs for the USPS.
> 
> Now... let's talk about the PRESENT.
> 
> =====
> 
> (excerpts from article seen below)
> 
> "The delays put BIDEN'S climate goals at risk." NOT Trump's.
> 
> "President JOE BIDEN'S fight against climate change."
> 
> "Congress provided $3 billion for the nearly $10 billion project in
> the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, one of BIDEN'S chief legislative 
> accomplishments."
> 
> "The massive delay means a project once hailed as a hallmark of
> BIDEN'S industrial and climate agenda may not take shape..."
> 
> "By August 2022, Congress passed Biden's Inflation Reduction Act"
> 
> "BIDEN ADMINISTRATION Officials Pressed DeJoy To PURCHASE MORE EVs"
> 
> =====
> 
> The Postal Service's Electric Mail Trucks Are Way Behind Schedule
> 
> Defense contractor Oshkosh had only delivered 93 trucks by November
> - compared to 3,000 originally expected by now. The delays put
> BIDEN'S CLIMATE GOALS at risk.
> 
> December 12, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EST
> 
> By Jacob Bogage - Bogage has covered the Postal Service since 2020
> and reviewed more than 20,000 pages of internal agency and company
> records for this story.
> 
> A multibillion-dollar program to buy electric vehicles for the U.S.
> Postal Service is far behind its original schedule, plagued by
> manufacturing mishaps and supplier infighting that threaten a
> cornerstone of outgoing President JOE BIDEN'S fight against climate
> change.
> 
> Get a curated selection of 10 of our best stories in your inbox
> every weekend.
> 
> The Postal Service is slated to purchase 60,000 "Next Generation
> Delivery Vehicles," or NGDVs - mostly electric - from defense
> contractor Oshkosh, which has a long history of producing military
> and heavy industrial vehicles, but not postal trucks. Congress
> provided $3 billion for the nearly $10 billion project in the 2022
> Inflation Reduction Act, one of Biden's chief legislative
> accomplishments.
> 
> But as of November, the Postal Service had received only 93 of the
> Oshkosh trucks, the agency told The Washington Post - far fewer than
> the 3,000 expected by now. Significant manufacturing difficulties
> that were not disclosed to the Postal Service for more than a year
> have stymied production, according to internal company records and
> four people with knowledge of the events, speaking on the condition
> of anonymity to avoid professional reprisals.
> 
> Among the problems: Engineers have struggled to calibrate the
> vehicles' air bags, according to two people familiar with the
> manufacturing process. When workers ran leak tests on the vehicles'
> bodies and internal components, water poured out as if their
> oversize windows had been left open in a storm, three people said.
> 
> Currently, Oshkosh can produce just one truck per day at its South
> Carolina factory, according to internal company records and five
> people with knowledge of the production process. Company records,
> including emails among executives and internal progress reports,
> show Oshkosh planned to be manufacturing more than 80 vehicles per
> day by now.
> 
> The wide-ranging production problems have not been previously
> reported and were not mentioned in an inspector general audit
> published in October. A senior company executive tried to alert the
> mail agency to the problems in 2022, but was blocked by superiors,
> four of the people said.
> 
> "This is the bottom line: We don't know how to make a damn truck,"
> said one person involved in production.
> 
> The massive delay means a project once hailed as a hallmark of
> Biden's industrial and climate agenda may not take shape until long
> after he leaves office on Jan. 20 - or could never materialize.
> Republicans in Congress have pledged to repeal key funding sources
> for Biden's climate investments with the GOP in power next year on
> Capitol Hill and at the White House, and Trump-aligned officials
> with designs on cutting government spending have circled the Postal
> Service as an area of interest.
> 
> "The days of bailouts and handouts are over. The American people
> spoke loud and clear. I worry about that EV money sitting around,
> that it may be clawed back. I think there are lots of areas where
> there's going to be significant reform over the next four years,"
> House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-
> Kentucky) told Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in a hearing this
> week.
> 
> This report is based on nearly 21,000 pages of government and
> internal Oshkosh records obtained by The Post through the Freedom of
> Information Act and other sources. It is also based on interviews
> with 20 people familiar with every phase of the truck project, many
> of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss
> proprietary information.
> 
> In June, the Biden administration honored the mail service's EV
> commitment with a "federal sustainability award."
> 
> Postal vehicle orders vs. deliveries
> 
> Suppliers were supposed to deliver about 29,000 trucks to the Postal
> Service in 2024. Most are on track to meet those orders. Oshkosh
> lags far behind.
> 
> A bullet bar chart showing USPS vehicle orders and vehicle
> deliveries.
> 
> https://i.imgur.com/59hUH0W.png
> 
> Oshkosh is supplying a mix of EV and gas-powered vehicles. Ford is
> supplying only EVs, and Ram and Mercedes are supplying only gas-
> powered vehicles.
> 
> Source: USPS, Postal Service Office of Inspector General
> 
> Jacob Bogage / THE WASHINGTON POST
> 
> In a statement, an Oshkosh spokesperson said the company was "fully
> committed to being a strong and reliable partner" for the Postal
> Service and "we remain on track to meet all delivery deadlines."
> 
> "Since we were selected to fulfill the NGDV contract in 2021,
> Oshkosh and the USPS have worked closely together to design and
> deliver a modernized fleet with a flexible mix of American-made
> electric- and gas-powered vehicles that will connect every home and
> business across the country. New vehicles are in service today,
> which have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from postal
> carriers," the spokesperson said.
> 
> The company did not respond to a list of detailed questions.
> 
> John Pfeifer, Oshkosh's chief executive, told investors on Oct. 30
> that the company was "really happy with where we are" and called the
> NGDV a "revolutionary vehicle."
> 
> "We're today ramping up production," Pfeifer said. "When you go
> through - you take a brand-new vehicle to market, we believe,
> together with the Postal Service, that a prudent production schedule
> is better than trying to start by sprinting. So we're ramping up
> today. We'll be at full production throughout 2025."
> 
> A Postal Service spokesperson said several issues with the NGDV
> program were detailed in the inspector general audit and "resolved
> directly with our supplier." But the agency declined to comment on
> specific questions or identify which issues the report helped
> resolve. The spokesperson called the truck procurement "a large,
> successful program that for a variety of reasons had many moving
> parts."
> 
> It said that any major production of a purpose-built vehicle has
> unique engineering requirements, and its contract with Oshkosh
> allows for robust performance monitoring. The Postal Service said it
> expects to receive 6,484 NDGVs in the current fiscal year.
> 
> "Our relationship with Oshkosh is defined by our contract, and we
> intend to hold Oshkosh to its contractual obligations, while
> recognizing the normal interplay that will need to take place in the
> execution and performance of an agreement of this magnitude," the
> spokesperson said.
> 
> "We're moving forward in modernizing our vehicle fleet - which will
> bring tremendous benefits to our organization. Under our plan,
> letter carriers in every state will be able to deliver mail and
> packages using new and modern vehicles within the next five years,"
> DeJoy said in a statement. "The work being done on this program
> demonstrates electrification and sustainability efforts can coexist
> - not conflict - with cost savings, efficiency gains and operational
> transformation priorities."
> 
> The agency is also purchasing tens of thousands of other vehicles,
> including EVs, from mainstream automakers.
> 
> Biden administration officials declined to comment.
> 
> Early delays
> 
> For nearly a decade, the Postal Service tried but couldn't afford to
> purchase a new delivery fleet, even though its "Long Life Vehicles,"
> or LLVs, are in desperate need of replacement. Produced by Northrop
> Grumman and its corporate predecessors between 1987 and 1994, the
> 130,000 vehicles use parts that have been discontinued, forcing
> postal machinists to reverse-engineer them for repairs.
> 
> The LLVs also lack standard safety features such as air bags and air
> conditioning - and occasionally burst into flames after decades of
> overuse. They manage a gas-guzzling 8.2 miles per gallon.
> 
> The Postal Service pushed Congress aggressively to overhaul its
> balance sheet and give it the financial flexibility to modernize and
> purchase new trucks. With a major contract in mind, U.S. auto giant
> Ford emerged as a potential supplier, according to three people with
> knowledge of company strategy. Ford would supply its Transit and
> eTransit cargo vans and Oshkosh would modify them to postal
> specifications.
> 
> But by 2020, Postal Service delays and additional testing
> requirements led Ford to drop out.
> 
> "I personally thought it was going to happen," said Curt Magleby,
> Ford's vice president of government relations from 2011 to 2020. "It
> just got bogged down until we were looking at product plans, and it
> just couldn't fit in the plan."
> 
> A Ford spokesperson referred questions to Oshkosh, which declined to
> comment.
> 
> In February 2021, the Postal Service purchased a vehicle that
> Oshkosh designed on its own and had never tested for durability,
> according to two people familiar with the details. Oshkosh did not
> produce a drivable prototype until months after the contract was
> awarded, the people said.
> 
> Oshkosh turned to Michigan-based Challenge Manufacturing to replace
> Ford as the body supplier, but Oshkosh and the Postal Service had
> fallen behind schedule with the final NGDV design, according to
> records and interviews. Challenge soon encountered related delays,
> unable to start production without it, records show. Challenge
> declined to comment on specific questions about its production
> capabilities and schedule.
> 
> In April 2022, Biden signed a measure into law that relieved the
> Postal Service of $107 billion of past-due and future liabilities.
> Finally in a healthier financial position, the Postal Service
> shifted its vehicle procurement into high gear. The truck Oshkosh
> produced - with its extended hood, massive bumpers and forehead-like
> windshield - was dubbed 'the platypus" by postal and company
> officials.
> 
> In June 2022, DeJoy told Congress that Oshkosh had won the contract
> in large part due to its manufacturing record, receiving the highest
> score of at least three procurement finalists for 'supplier
> capability" and "overall technical score."
> 
> "We have devoted considerable time and money to procure purpose-
> built EVs that Americans will see in their neighborhoods beginning
> in 2023," the postmaster wrote to Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan), who
> chairs the committee in charge of postal oversight.
> 
> Weeks after DeJoy's confident report that NGDVs would be on the road
> in 2023, a Challenge executive informed Oshkosh leaders that it
> didn't expect to complete its first NGDV body until May 2024,
> according to emails obtained by The Post.
> 
> In a statement, Challenge said it is working with Oshkosh during the
> "design evolution of the vehicle" and will "incorporate these
> developments into the components that we supply."
> 
> 'The only ethical path'
> 
> By August 2022, Congress passed Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, the
> largest investment to fight climate change in U.S. history, chock-
> full of incentives for electric vehicles and green manufacturing.
> The money it dedicated to the Postal Service is being used to cover
> the cost difference between gas-powered vehicles and more expensive
> EVs, according to a White House official, who spoke on the condition
> of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
> The funding also helps the Postal Service pay to install vehicle
> chargers.
> 
> Quickly, Biden administration officials pressed DeJoy to purchase
> more EVs to help the administration's broader climate and green-
> industry goals, records and interviews show.
> 
> On Dec. 20, 2022, the Postal Service announced plans to phase out
> the old gas trucks and exclusively purchase EVs by 2026. It would
> buy more than 106,000 vehicles, including roughly 45,000 electric
> NGDVs and 21,000 EVs from mainstream automakers such as Ford, Ram
> and Mercedes.
> 
> Postal Service vehicle purchase plan
> 
> The Postal Service plans to purchase roughly 106,000 new mail
> trucks, including 66,000-some EVs and 40,000 gas-powered vehicles.
> Most of the trucks will come from defense contractor Oshkosh, but
> the Postal Service will purchase tens of thousands more from other
> suppliers.
> 
> https://i.imgur.com/1cPvzm9.jpg
> 
> Source: Postal Service Office of Inspector General
> 
> Jacob Bogage / THE WASHINGTON POST
> 
> "It will get people thinking, 'If the postal worker delivering our
> Christmas presents ... is driving an EV, I can drive one, too,'"
> John Podesta, Biden's senior adviser for clean energy innovation,
> said at an event announcing the plans at postal headquarters in
> Washington.
> 
> Two days later, a senior Oshkosh executive sent a stark warning to
> his superiors: Oshkosh was months, if not years, behind in software
> development and testing, Don Bent, the then-chief operating officer
> in charge of the NGDV's South Carolina factory, told Tim Bleck, then
> the company vice president overseeing the project. Challenge was
> also far behind.
> 
> Despite the fanfare in Washington, Oshkosh could not meet the Postal
> Service's requirements or timeline, Bent wrote.
> 
> "I firmly believe that the only ethical path for Oshkosh is to
> correct these inaccurate statements with the USPS. These known false
> statements should never have been made or implied and I am not
> comfortable being part of these meetings where we are sharing false
> information," Bent wrote to Bleck, according to company records
> obtained by The Post.
> 
> Less than an hour later, Bent asked Bleck for a meeting with postal
> officials within the next several weeks to "expose the inaccurate
> time-lines and information shared with USPS earlier this month."
> Bent declined to comment.
> 
> Oshkosh did not respond to questions about the emails, Bent's
> attempts to communicate with the Postal Service or when and how
> information was shared with the agency about production problems. In
> its statement, the company said, "Design iterations following an
> initial proposal are a common and expected part of the testing and
> development cycle for any complex program and we are meeting the
> terms of our agreement with the USPS."
> 
> On May 1, 2023, the Postal Service disclosed the delays,
> acknowledging the slowdowns in a legal filing that blamed court
> challenges of its environmental record.
> 
> Work begins and prices rise
> 
> As Oshkosh fell behind, it raised prices. In March 2023, the company
> and Postal Service agreed to an Inflation Reduction Act "premium
> adjustment," according to contracts obtained by The Post. As the
> Postal Service ordered more EVs, the cost rose to $2.6 billion for
> 35,000 vehicles.
> 
> For 1,958 gas-powered NGDVs, the agency agreed to pay $54,584 per
> truck.
> 
> For 28,195 EVs, it would pay $77,692 per truck.
> 
> It also purchased several thousand more vehicles equipped with spare
> tires and training seats that each cost a few hundred dollars more
> than the base model. The modifications increased the overall value
> of the Oshkosh purchase by more than half a billion dollars,
> according to company financial disclosures.
> 
> Oshkosh mail vehicle price per unit
> 
> Prices listed for NGDV models in a March 31, 2023, contract signed
> by Oshkosh and the Postal Service. Prices and order quantities may
> have changed due to economic conditions and design alterations.
> 
> Table with 3 columns and 6 rows. Sorted descending by column
> "Quantity ordered"
> 
> https://i.imgur.com/qj2O78q.png
> 
> Source: USPS contract
> 
> Jacob Bogage / THE WASHINGTON POST
> 
> Neither Oshkosh nor the Postal Service responded to questions about
> the value of their contract; the Postal Service has resisted
> supplying that information to Congress, citing proprietary business
> information, according to emails between the agency and
> congressional aides.
> 
> As Challenge prepared for production, Oshkosh retained an interim
> supplier. But that company could only provide five truck bodies per
> week, according to interviews and records. By August 2023, Oshkosh
> projected it would deliver a mere 150 vehicles to the Postal Service
> in 2024 - "approximately 2,100 less than plan," according to a
> company presentation - and 90 more than Oshkosh actually provided,
> the Postal Service reported.
> 
> Bent was still issuing warnings about the vehicle's production
> problems, according to emails and company records obtained by The
> Post, and was candid in team meetings with factory staff, according
> to four people involved, insisting that employees fix problems to
> ensure the trucks' safety and durability.
> 
> Then in November 2023, he called a meeting to announce his
> resignation. He told colleagues he would leave Oshkosh at the end of
> the year. He declined to comment, and Oshkosh did not respond to
> questions about his departure.
> 
> This February, in its annual earnings report, Oshkosh warned
> investors that "our performance under the USPS contract may not be
> what we expect" and described new risks that echoed the concerns
> Bent's emails had raised. Among them: that the Postal Service would
> order fewer vehicles than expected, that "engineering time to
> finalize the production vehicle design may be greater than we
> anticipate," and that 'tooling and factory build-out activities" may
> take longer than planned.
> 
> In May, Oshkosh finally delivered the first vehicles to the Postal
> Service for evaluation. The trucks required significant fixes before
> they could be declared fit for use. Oshkosh employees found parts
> installed incorrectly, shoddy construction and faulty software,
> according to three people familiar with the situation.
> 
> For example, the air bag system could not tell whether the truck had
> been jostled by a pothole or smashed in a collision. Oshkosh
> engineers were able to install a software fix, but the nonstandard
> correction may not be immediately available to Postal Service
> mechanics who work on the vehicles, two of the people said.
> 
> Oshkosh did not respond to questions about the NGDV's safety or its
> production quality. In its statement, the company said, "We continue
> to be pleased by the positive feedback on the program and the
> vehicle design that we have received from the USPS and its postal
> carriers."
> 
> An NGDV test driver told The Post they were pleased with the vehicle
> during road tests. Despite its awkward shape, it was well-balanced
> and its safety components performed well.
> 
> "This fleet that they purchased has to be able to last. And from
> what I see so far, it looks pretty good," the driver said, speaking
> on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to
> discuss the truck publicly. "Yes, there's some manufacturing
> glitches and we're in the pretty early stages of production, where
> the production techniques need to be perfected. But overall, the few
> issues we've seen have been pretty minimal when you're talking about
> creating a vehicle from the ground up."
> 
> Making deliveries
> 
> As early as 2022, postal leaders and some of DeJoy's advisers pushed
> him to move the agency away from Oshkosh, citing potential legal
> problems with the contract and the hefty environmental footprint of
> the gas-powered trucks. They get 8.6 mpg with the air conditioning
> running, only 0.4 mpg better than the old trucks.
> 
> Some postal leaders have privately renewed those calls because of
> Oshkosh's delays, according to two people familiar with the
> conversations. And the agency has appeared willing to consider
> alternatives. In 2022, it tested EVs made by a General Motors
> subsidiary, and in January, it agreed to try out electric delivery
> vehicles from start-up Canoo.
> 
> And last January, the Postal Service held another splashy EV event,
> hosting Biden administration officials in Atlanta to celebrate its
> first vehicle charging stations.
> 
> The EVs parked in the background were Ford eTransits purchased in
> 2023. More than a thousand of them are already making deliveries.
> 
> =====
> 
> Trump WINS!
> 
> Donald Trump is the 47th U.S. president, defeating Vice President
> Kamala Harris.
> 
> Republican Donald Trump was elected President of the United States
> in the 2024 election, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris.
> 
> Trump, 78, will begin his second term early next year.
> 
> Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the U.S. President on Monday,
> January 20, 2025, on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in
> Washington, D.C.
> 
> A Second Trump Administration
> 
> =====
> 
> December:
> 
> Murcia's Record Lows
> 
> Red Alert In Bidar Amid India's Cold Wave
> 
> Italian Alps Hit -31.1c (-24f)
> 
> U.S. Cold-Deaths Double Since 1999-The Establishment Blames Global
> Warming
> 
> Japan's Record-Breaking Snowfall
> 
> BBC Still Pushing Polar Bear Propaganda
> 
> White Christmas For Europe
> 
> Bengaluru's Record Cold
> 
> Xinjiang Plummets To Record -42.5c
> 
> Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Higher Now Than In 1979
> 
> Bhopal Breaks 58-Year Record
> 
> Vostok At -40c (Again)
> 
> The Truth About Iceberg A-68
> 
> Extreme Cold And Heavy Snow Slam Finland
> 
> Europe Wind Power A "Shit Situation," Says Minister
> 
> Winter Weather Grips U.S.
> 
> India Reels
> 
> Vostok Below -40c
> 
> Snow Hits Malaga, Spain
> 
> Cold Wave Sweeps Pakistan
> 
> Canadian Prairies Near -40c
> 
> Texans Warned Of "Extreme Cold"
> 
> Antarctic Sea Ice Nearing 1979-1990 Average
> 
> "Excellent" Early-Season Snow Across The Alps
> 
> Delhi's Record Cold
> 
> Chilly Waters Stun Record Number Of Turtles
> 
> Record Cold Grips Indore
> 
> Asia Chills
> 
> Record Snowfall In Midwest
> 
> Another Round Of Arctic Air To Hit Much Of North America
> 
> Mumbai's Lowest Temp In A Decade
> 
> Northern Hemisphere Cold
> 
> Russia In The Freezer
> 
> India Chills
> 
> Northern India's Big Freeze Intensifies
> 
> Cold Wave Enters Vietnam
> 
> Freezing Lows And Heavy Snows Hit U.S., More To Come
> 
> Kashmir Freezes At -18c (-0.4f)
> 
> Below Average Antarctic Plateau
> 
> Another Round Of Lake-Effect Snow
> 
> Cold Waves Lifting Natural Gas Prices
> 
> Snow Returns To Scotland And Wider Europe
> 
> Global Temperature Tumbles
> 
> Antarctic Sea Ice Recovery
> 
> Severe Cold Hits Pakistan
> 
> Florida Set For Record Cold
> 
> Snowy November At Red Mountain
> 
> U.S. Battered By Cold And Record Snow
> 
> Parts Of Ontario Under A Meter Of Snow
> 
> Early-December To Deliver Another Burial To Europe
>