Davin News Server

LOL... Why EV Giant With A Contract For 100k USPS Trucks Has Suddenly Offered 
To Convert Them To Gas!

The company behind the United States Postal Service's all-electric mail 
trucks has said it would be prepared to switch to gas vehicles. 

Oshkosh Corp., which provides the so-called "Duck" mail trucks, has said it 
is prepared to U-turn if USPS cuts back orders for EVs under the second Trump 
term. 

Trump, who takes office on January 20, has long criticized funding brought in 
by the Biden administration to transition to an electric mail fleet. 

President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provided $3 billion over a 
decade for the Postal Service to become all-electric, including both trucks 
and charging stations. 

USPS said in October last year that it plans to buy more than 100,000 mail 
trucks through 2028, of which at least 62 percent will be EVs. 

Oshkosh has received its first order from USPS for 50,000 electric trucks, 
valued at $2.98 billion. 

But John Pfeifer, CEO of Oshkosh, said the company would be prepared to make 
the switch back to gas if necessary. 

"We'll do what they want us to do - supplying either gas or electric, " he 
said in an interview at the CES trade show in Las Vegas, Bloomberg reported. 

"A new Congress could come in and repeal, I guess, part of the IRA that 
hasn't been spent."

Trump's team is reportedly looking at whether it can get out of USPS 
contracts with Oshkosh and Ford, Reuters has reported.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, meanwhile, told Bloomberg last month that the 
agency needs to replace aging mail trucks, but he has not heard from the 
incoming administration as to whether it plans to buy EVs or not. 

Pfeifer said the company has also not heard from the incoming administration 
or from USPS about shifting away from electric trucks.

He said EVs account for almost three quarters of the delivery trucks the 
Postal Service has ordered from Oshkosh.

While electric trucks cost more up front than gas-fueled versions, their 
advantage is lower operating costs for maintenance and refueling, he added. 

'The Postmaster General knows that's one of the keys to him turning around 
the financial performance of the postal service because the running costs are 
so much lower, " he told Bloomberg.

USPS has brought in several changes since 2021 as part of the financially 
beleaguered service's plan to avoid $160 billion in projected losses over a 
decade. 

Like other postal services across the world, it is facing headwinds as fewer 
people send physical mail.

The service, like many other independent agencies and government departments, 
is likely waiting with baited breath to see what steps the President-elect 
takes when he is sworn into office.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has already said that the IRA, Biden's 
landmark signature climate law, would be an early target for the new 
Congress.

Trump, who has been an outspoken critic of EVs, said last year that no state 
would be allowed to ban gas-powered cars if he won a second term in office.

If the EV component of Oshkosh's contract with USPS was reduced to zero, it 
would likely mean a 50 cent to 60 cent per share hit to the company's 2026 
and 2027 earnings per share, Citi analyst Kyle Menges has estimated, 
Bloomberg reported.