Ranking Member Connolly, Chairman Comer, Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation to Strengthen Postal Truck Safety and Save Lives

Washington, D.C. (January 28, 2025)—Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. James Comer, Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, reintroduced the Mail Traffic Deaths Reporting Act to codify recommendations made by the Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) by requiring the tracking and reporting of serious crashes and fatalities related to the transport of U.S. Mail.  This legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives by voice vote in the 118th Congress.

“Too many lives are being lost in crashes involving trucks contracted by the Postal Service.  Without common sense record-keeping and oversight, these tragedies have become too easy for the Postal Service to ignore.  The Postal Service must embrace truck safety and incident tracking,” said Ranking Member Connolly.  “In partnership with Chairman Comer, I am reintroducing the bipartisan Mail Traffic Deaths Reporting Act to prioritize safety and reduce senseless loss of life.”

“The Mail Traffic Deaths Reporting Act increases transparency over the Postal Service’s transportation policies in order to ensure American lives are protected and avoidable tragedies decline,” said Chairman Comer. “This legislation will make our roadways safer by requiring the Postal Service to immediately implement proper oversight protocols.”

According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, the Postal Service is managing truck freight operations which do not adhere to common-sense safety standards, such as utilizing “conditionally” rated motor carriers, setting delivery schedules that require exceeding driver hours of service requirements, and selecting carriers with extensive records of safety violations.  Within a two-year period, the Department of Transportation “flagged 466 Postal Service trucking contractors for high rates of violations related to driving hours.” 

In May 2023, Ranking Member Connolly urged the Postal Service OIG to investigate the safety of freight contract trucking practices of more than 4,6000 trucking companies at the Postal Service.  The OIG conducted a broad investigation into the Postal Service’s freight carrier contracting and safety practices.  The report found that the Postal Service did not have a single written policy requiring the tracking of trucking contractor accidents and fatalities.  The OIG’s first recommendation was that the Postal Service establish a method for tracking contractor accident and fatality data and establish corresponding written policies and procedures for such a tracking system. 

The Mail Traffic Deaths Reporting Act would codify the #1 recommendation from the OIG report by requiring the tracking and reporting of serious crashes and fatalities related to the transport of U.S. postal mail. The bill also requires the Postal Service to issue penalties against any contractor who fails to submit traffic crash reports.  

Traffic crash fatalities involving large trucks continue to make up a significant segment of all crash fatalities in the United States.  The codification of commonsense record-keeping and oversight requirements included in the Mail Traffic Deaths Reporting Act are a crucial step towards improving the safety of mail transport and saving lives.

The Mail Traffic Deaths Reporting Act is endorsed by the Truck Safety Coalition.

Text of the Mail Traffic Deaths Reporting Act is available here.