Transportation is central to mail delivery, so it is no surprise that the companies who move the mail dominate the list of the Top 150 U.S. Postal Service Suppliers in Fiscal Year 2019. Seven of the Top 10 companies are involved in transportation. Federal Express tops the list, as it has since 2002, with just

Transportation companies again dominate this year’s Top 150 U.S. Postal Service Suppliers list. All told, USPS spent nearly $16 billion on purchases in FY 2018, about $900 million more than last year.  Not surprisingly for an agency charged with moving the mail, six of the top ten contractors provide transportation services or equipment.

The Top 150 list has been compiled annually since 1999 by David Hendel, a partner in the firm’s Technology, Manufacturing, and Transportation group and leader of the firm’s Postal Contracting team.  The list is compiled from data received in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

The Postal Service spent $15.9 billion on all outside purchases in FY 2018, of which $9.8 billion went to the agency’s Top 150 suppliers. The Top 150 received $540 million more than last year’s Top 150 group, and $1.5 billion more than those in FY 2016.

The top 10 largest suppliers earned $4.2 billion, which is one quarter of the Postal Service’s total spend and $700 million more than last year’s Top 10.  They also collected $3 billion more than the next ten largest suppliers.
Continue Reading Transportation companies dominate 2018 list of top U.S. Postal Service suppliers

Transportation contractors once again dominate the top spots in our annual list of the Top 150 U.S. Postal Service Suppliers. In fiscal year 2016, USPS spent over $14 billion on outside purchases, about half of that for transportation. As it has since 2002, Federal Express Corporation lands atop the list, this year with $1.678 billion in revenues – about a $300 million increase from last year. FedEx carries package and letter mail for the Postal Service. FedEx’s air cargo network contract with the Postal Service was recently renewed for a five-year period, extending the contract until September 29, 2024.
Continue Reading Transportation Contractors Lead List of Top U.S. Postal Service Suppliers

The Postal Service spent $2.8 billion on 16,993 Highway Contract Route (HCR) contracts in 2011, according to a newly released audit report by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG).  The OIG conducted the audit to assess the integrity of data in the Transportation Contract Support System (TCSS). OIG found the TCSS data is accurate. In a spot-check of 196 sampled contracts, OIG did not find a single data error. But there was one area of disagreement with management. OIG contended that 94% of the sampled contracts did not have proper funding approval documentation prior to contract award. Postal management disagreed with this conclusion, saying that advance funding approval was obtained through other methods.
Continue Reading Postal Service spent $2.8 billion on highway transportation in 2011

Yet another U.S. Postal Service manager has pled guilty to fraud and corruption charges relating to USPS transportation contracts. In March 2012, the former USPS Manager of Postal Vehicle Service Operations for the Bay Valley District in Oakland, CA was indicted in a $4.4 million fraudulent billing scheme. Last year, five Postal Service officials at the Detroit, MI Vehicle Maintenance Facility were charged with similar crimes. One might well wonder how many more such episodes need to be uncovered before the Postal Service issues binding procurement regulations and institutes effective protest procedures. Here’s what happened in the most recent case.Continue Reading Another Postal Service manager pleads guilty to contract fraud

Procurement spending by the U.S. Postal Service declined slightly in 2011, but capital spending was anemic, according to the agency’s recently released Form 10-K report. Capital expenditures experienced a 15% drop from 2010 levels. This comes on top of a 24% decline in capital spending a year ago.  Transportation spending was once again the leading procurement category, totaling $6,389 million — an increase of $511 million, or 8.7%, compared to 2010.  More expensive fuel accounted for much of this increase, as diesel fuel prices rose 26.6% from a year ago.Continue Reading Postal Service FY 2011 spending declines slightly; capital spending anemic