Employees may be allowed to charge their own vehicles at USPS stations.

Employees may be allowed to charge their own vehicles at USPS stations. Jon Challicom / Getty Images

Don’t Expect to Charge Your Electric Vehicle at the Stations USPS Plans to Build

The Postal Service may consider making an exception for its own employees to charge their personal vehicles.

There are too many hurdles to allow the public to use the U.S. Postal Service’s forthcoming charging stations to juice up their own electric vehicles, according to the agency and a federal watchdog, even as the agency plans to add the capacity to tens of thousands of its facilities. 

USPS should, however, create plans to allow its own workforce to charge their personal vehicles at agency facilities, the Government Accountability Office said, faulting the mailing agency for failing to take a more proactive approach toward offering that benefit. Postal officials said they are open to developing the initiative down the line, but for now must focus on the agency’s needs. 

The Postal Service is planning to begin installing and using charging stations at its facilities this year as it begins converting 75% of its fleet to EVs. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has said it will purchase 66,000 charging stations, one for each of the electric vehicles it plans to buy over the next several years. 

While Reps. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., asked GAO to review whether the public could use those chargers for their personal needs, postal officials told the auditors such a plan was not feasible. GAO noted beneficiaries of such a plan could include customers as they conducted business inside a post office, travelers on long-distance trips and community members who simply need a place to charge their car. The watchdog acknowledged concerns from USPS and stakeholders, however, that such a system would create too many challenges. Still, GAO said postal management should develop a better understanding of power capacity at USPS facilities and which locations with public charging would offer the greatest public good. 

USPS officials told GAO the roadblocks to allowing the public to use agency chargers ranged from legal and financial to operational. The Postal Service is statutorily prevented from pursuing revenue outside its core business, though they can offer services on behalf of federal agencies. Still, USPS would not be permitted to collect revenue for any effort on behalf of other parts of the government or if it leased out postal property to third parties. The officials also said the initiative would "conflict with or complicate" efforts to efficiently deliver the mail, including by incentivizing customers to spend longer in post offices than is necessary. They noted potential limitations related to parking, staffing to troubleshoot issues and safety for users at night. USPS also expressed concerns about allowing the general public to access its grounds beyond security fences. 

Put succinctly, “Postal officials we interviewed did not identify any benefits to USPS of pursuing public chargers,” GAO said. Some stakeholders GAO also spoke with, however, said USPS would be offering a public good that would enhance its reputation and "community relevance."

The Postal Service has explored the possibility of granting its workforce access to its fleet chargers, but so far has not incorporated any efforts to share the equipment in its plans to ramp up its charging infrastructure.

“We charge overnight,” DeJoy told reporters in December. “I don't think the public wants to come wait overnight. And we have secured lots. So that's a whole other strategy. That's for another day.” 

Postal officials said the same security concerns would not apply to allowing its own workforce to access its charging network and it would provide a valuable benefit to employees. They also noted, however, that internal survey data has indicated few employees own EVs. The agency would also have to make determinations on when employees could use the chargers and whether the service would be free. 

Given those potential hurdles, officials said “they see workplace charging as a possibility at some point in the future [but] they could not predict when, or if, USPS would establish such a program.” 

GAO pushed back on that approach, saying the investment USPS is currently making in its charging infrastructure will cost billions of dollars and "affect postal operations for decades." 

“As USPS begins to prepare sites and install charging equipment for its electric delivery fleet, it has an opportunity to help ensure these investments take into consideration the potential future needs of employees,” GAO said. “Incorporating the potential for future workplace charging as USPS prepares sites for electric delivery vehicles will better position it to avoid costly future upgrades, potentially provide an employee benefit, and advance sustainability goals.”

Vicki Stephen, executive director of the Postal Service’s Next Generation Delivery Vehicle program, said the agency would explore "any additional initiatives" related to charging infrastructure only after further developing its core plans that align with the USPS mission, according to a GAO summary of her comments. She added, per GAO, that USPS cannot focus on any other goals at this time, as it must primarily focus on delivering mail and packages. 

Congress provided $3 billion for USPS to buy more EVs and charging stations as part of the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, which included $1.7 billion for the support infrastructure. The Postal Service initially pledged to only electrify 10% of its new fleet, but significantly increased that rate after a series of lawsuits and negotiations with the Biden administration.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.