WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill that would require the U.S. Postal Service to crack down on safety lapses involving its long-haul trucking contractors.
The Mail Traffic Deaths Reporting Act of 2025, bipartisan legislation spearheaded by U.S. Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and James Comer, R-Ky., and would give Postal Service truck contractors and employees three days to report to the agency any crash they are involved in that results in injury or death.
It also requires the Postal Service to maintain an internal database that includes comprehensive information related to injuries and deaths as well as provide a public annual report summarizing those injuries and deaths.
Contractors that fail to report a traffic crash within the deadline will be subject to fines, suspension of contracts, or termination of contracts.
The bill, which passed the chamber 402-16, now heads to the Senate for consideration.
It is identical to a bill approved by the House last year. That bill was introduced by Connolly and Comer following an audit by the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General (OIG).
The audit, “Contract Trucking Safety and Compliance,” revealed that the Postal Service does not track accidents and fatalities involving its trucking contractors, and therefore auditors were unable to provide Congress with complete accident data.
However, analyzing incomplete data provided by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the OIG identified 373 accidents resulting in 89 deaths directly related to 43 on-duty contractors servicing Postal Service trucking contracts.
The audit also found that 14 of the 15 contracting and administrative officers interviewed did not know when trucking companies hired for highway contract routes (HCRs) used a subcontractor. In addition, brokers for the agency’s freight auction contracts – used to purchase extra capacity when contractors can’t fulfill HCRs – were not required to obtain approval or inform the Postal Service of subcontractors they hire.
“The Postal Service relied on the broker to complete subcontractor authorization and vet the subcontractor, but those results are not required to be reported to the Postal Service,” the audit stated. “The onus is on the broker to ensure the subcontractor is in compliance with Postal Service policies.”
The stepped-up oversight of the Postal Service’s safety controls comes amid major service changes at the agency.
Last week the agency announced it would be ending afternoon collections at a large swath of the nation’s post offices, adding another day to delivery times for some outgoing mail and packages as part of a multiyear transformation aimed at reducing inefficiency and financial losses.
