USPS sued over purchasing gasoline powered delivery vehicles.

[Tone deaf]

The only consideration USPS should be looking at is total cost of ownership.

 

[LP121]

Anybody see the Cheers episode where Woody films Cliff delivering mail in that apartment building?

When he leaves everyone comes out and swaps mail around so it goes to the rightful owners.

That's pretty much the mail service in my town.

 

[wildhawk1]

I hope they do it. It'll make me lots of more money. However good an idea sounds, it would make sense to look at all the angles.

165,000 EVs will require the equivalent of 12 average nuclear power plants to charge. Of course they all won't charge at once or in the same neighborhood but, the average post office with say 50 vehicles will need 360kWhs to charge the fleet...daily. The increase demand on the national power grid would not go unnoticed. An additional unintended consequence will be soaring electricity prices, most of which is created with fossil fuels. Therefore, the price of fossil fuels will rise, too.

Because of their duty cycles (far more usage than average civilian vehicle) they will likely "wear out" their batteries in under three years, requiring new batteries and the disposal or reuse of approximately 25,000 tons of toxic waste (that is exactly how used EV batteries are referred to) every three years (estimating 300lbs of batteries per vehicle). That's $25 million for disposal of said batteries (at today's prices) and $2.1B (best case) in battery replacements every three years or so. I also very much doubt that US EV recycling capacity would be able to handle this volume of batteries in the near future. EV recycling is very inefficient and expensive.

Add to that the fact that there is not enough lithium in the world to satisfy our demand for it. Don't believe me? How about this guy:

Musk Is Right - Not Enough Lithium for EV Batteries!

Elon Musk tweeted...Lithium prices are up more than 80% this year and nickel prices have gyrated heavily amid trading turmoil in London.

www.independentsentinel.com

If we electrify all 166 million registered cars in the USA, that would draw the equivalent of 12,000 average nuke plants. We currently have 86 operational nuke plants in the USA with 2 additional plants under construction. I think that we will be a little light on the power generation side of the equation.

I'm not anti-EV, quite the opposite (my financial wellbeing is directly correlated with EV adoption). However, they are not all that they are cracked up to be and every action causes a reaction. The law of unintended consequences is going to bite us ALL very hard when people start to figure this all out and by then, it'll be too late.

Good post.

From Wiki

The lifespan specified by the U.S. Postal Service was 24 years, but in 2009 this was extended to 30 years. The majority of LLVs have been on the road for over 27 years.



Proven technology instead of jumping on the bandwagon and investing billions in vehicles and infrastructure that hasn't been proven over the long haul of severe duty use.

 

[meatball]

They bought my two A A batteries to me in USPS !!!

 

[shark]

all I get from the USPS is junk mail. maybe they can just start scanning it and send me junk e-mail like everyone else.

only reason USPS is still up is they hire people who otherwise wouldnt have jobs. Before you quailfy for disability you got to apply for USPS. They advertise we hire the handicap and they really do.

actually I do get little stuff from Sweetwater USPS like a cable or capo in a little padded bag. Got a fat check in the mail earlier this year and I tell ya I was not convinced it was going to make it until it hit the box.

I not had too much trouble with USPS but I dont use them much either

 

[Tone deaf]

all I get from the USPS is junk mail. maybe they can just start scanning it and send me junk e-mail like everyone else.

actually I do get little stuff from Sweetwater USPS like a cable or capo in a little padded bag. Got a fat check in the mail earlier this year and I tell ya I was not convinced it was going to make it until it hit the box.

I not had too much trouble with USPS but I dont use them much either

The first hundred millionaire I ever met made his dough printing the color, advertising inserts that went in the newspaper. He had a castle in England. Of course, none of that helped him when his psycho **tch wife's lover killed him in their Hamptons home.*


*Yes, they made a made-for-tv movie about it.

 

[Fritz]

People shouldn't sue each other and stuff. But IDK.

 

[HearHear]

USPS was raided of its revenues by Congress, which required it to keep funds to pay retirements 75 years into the future. In other words, for employees that aren’t even born yet! That law was repealed only a few weeks ago, thank God. USPS operates on its own revenue only, and has access to NONE of your tax money. The USPS had to make some tough decisions due to that retirement fund law — not always good decisions, such as centralizing mail sorting functions away from local POs. As a result, if I send mail to a close neighbor down the road, it has to go to Albuquerque NM to be sorted and sent back to our local PO for delivery — a 500 mile round trip to get mail sent to an address a few hundred feet away. Hopefully, such gross inefficiencies will be corrected soon.

As far as the EV vs gasoline mail truck issue is concerned, USPS should be required to do a study of availability of electric power (and gasoline) in all of its locations, and make its decision based thereon.

Wisdom. Use EV’s where practical, like other carriers do. But at least start the process going.

 

[Dolebludger]

The USPS is a Constitutional required function of the Federal government. But since the 70s, it has been relegated to the status of a Federal corporation. What does that mean? Nobody really knows. I was once a senior attorney with the FDIC which has the same status. We were always trying to figure out, are we a Federal agency or not. But one thing is for sure. The Federal government is required to maintain postal service for all of us, regardless if what it is called. It is necessary. One reason I can mention is that legal papers are required by the law of every state to be served on parties by certified mail requiring return card. UPS delivery us not authorized. Some would like to abolish USPS and replace it with private carriers. Like UPS and FedEx? Those two carriers have been more unreliable to us recently than USPS. So if you want to privatize USPS just make sure if what you are getting instead.

Now as to the EV vs gasoline postal trucks, the EV would do rather well in small city areas, like here in Durango, CO. We have adequate electric supply to charge them, I think. But in areas like New York City, I have no idea. And neither does our current Postmaster General. He is giving contracts based on “flying by the seat of his pants”.

 

[Sp8ctre]

I hope they do it. It'll make me lots of more money. However good an idea sounds, it would make sense to look at all the angles.

165,000 EVs will require the equivalent of 12 average nuclear power plants to charge. Of course they all won't charge at once or in the same neighborhood but, the average post office with say 50 vehicles will need 360kWhs to charge the fleet...daily. The increase demand on the national power grid would not go unnoticed. An additional unintended consequence will be soaring electricity prices, most of which is created with fossil fuels. Therefore, the price of fossil fuels will rise, too.

Because of their duty cycles (far more usage than average civilian vehicle) they will likely "wear out" their batteries in under three years, requiring new batteries and the disposal or reuse of approximately 25,000 tons of toxic waste (that is exactly how used EV batteries are referred to) every three years (estimating 300lbs of batteries per vehicle). That's $25 million for disposal of said batteries (at today's prices) and $2.1B (best case) in battery replacements every three years or so. I also very much doubt that US EV recycling capacity would be able to handle this volume of batteries in the near future. EV recycling is very inefficient and expensive.

Add to that the fact that there is not enough lithium in the world to satisfy our demand for it. Don't believe me? How about this guy:

Musk Is Right - Not Enough Lithium for EV Batteries!

Elon Musk tweeted...Lithium prices are up more than 80% this year and nickel prices have gyrated heavily amid trading turmoil in London.

www.independentsentinel.com

If we electrify all 166 million registered cars in the USA, that would draw the equivalent of 12,000 average nuke plants. We currently have 86 operational nuke plants in the USA with 2 additional plants under construction. I think that we will be a little light on the power generation side of the equation.

I'm not anti-EV, quite the opposite (my financial wellbeing is directly correlated with EV adoption). However, they are not all that they are cracked up to be and every action causes a reaction. The law of unintended consequences is going to bite us ALL very hard when people start to figure this all out and by then, it'll be too late.

Finally someone gets it! I've been in the communications industry my entire life. I have always tried to bring these battery issues up and no one seems to understand!

Hydrogen is a better alternative, but the electric car ship has sailed and there are too many people on board who don't want to soil their reputations for backing a flawed plan!

 

[Tone deaf]

Finally someone gets it! I've been in the communications industry my entire life. I have always tried to bring these battery issues up and no one seems to understand!

Hydrogen is a better alternative, but the electric car ship has sailed and there are too many people on board who don't want to soil their reputations for backing a flawed plan!

Li-ion recycling tech needs another 10 years to develop the tech to recover a far greater portion of the key materials.

 

[Olds442]

 

[Skit]

USPS was raided of its revenues by Congress, which required it to keep funds to pay retirements 75 years into the future. In other words, for employees that aren’t even born yet! That law was repealed only a few weeks ago, thank God. USPS operates on its own revenue only, and has access to NONE of your tax money. The USPS had to make some tough decisions due to that retirement fund law — not always good decisions, such as centralizing mail sorting functions away from local POs. As a result, if I send mail to a close neighbor down the road, it has to go to Albuquerque NM to be sorted and sent back to our local PO for delivery — a 500 mile round trip to get mail sent to an address a few hundred feet away. Hopefully, such gross inefficiencies will be corrected soon.

As far as the EV vs gasoline mail truck issue is concerned, USPS should be required to do a study of availability of electric power (and gasoline) in all of its locations, and make its decision based thereon.

So if they get no tax money why should they be required to do any studies before they purchase vehicles?

 

[wildhawk1]

Six day residential delivery is ridiculous.

Cut labor costs and emissions with four day delivery.





Problem solved.

 

[rfrizz]

It is more the burping than the poots.

 

[rfrizz]

People shouldn't sue each other and stuff. But IDK.

Disagreements will always arise, and we have to have a method to resolve them. We really don't want trial by combat.

 

[rfrizz]

The USPS is a Constitutional required function of the Federal government.

The Constitution gives Congress the power "to establish Post Offices and post Roads" but it does not require it to do so.

 

[Fiat Lux]

Disagreements will always arise, and we have to have a method to resolve them. We really don't want trial by combat.

Why not?

cheers.

 

[scott1970]

I mailed a flat rate box the other day, and the clerk started putting dozens of stamps all over the box. He explained that unpopular stamps have to be sent back to be shredded. He also stated it requires an absurd amount of paperwork and ties up a lot of time.

I admired his efforts to save tax dollars, but it does make me wonder just how much money is wasted annually for stamp printing, shipping, returning and destruction.

I don't mind paying taxes, but I absolutely despise the fact the government is such a poor steward with our tax dollars. Of course, that doesn't count whenever I'm hanging out at the coffee pot at the firehall.

 

[wildhawk1]

I mailed a flat rate box the other day, and the clerk started putting dozens of stamps all over the box. He explained that unpopular stamps have to be sent back to be shredded. He also stated it requires an absurd amount of paperwork and ties up a lot of time.

I admired his efforts to save tax dollars, but it does make me wonder just how much money is wasted annually for stamp printing, shipping, returning and destruction.

I don't mind paying taxes, but I absolutely despise the fact the government is such a poor steward with our tax dollars. Of course, that doesn't count whenever I'm hanging out at the coffee pot at the firehall.

Aren't all stamps those forever variety these days?



Unpopular stamps? I know some people like me don't give a sheeeeet what the stamps are. Sell them to that group.

And while we're at it they need to issue a Judge Judy stamp.

Long overdue.




She's so hot.