The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) awards highway transportation contracts to carry its bulk mail. Proposals with technical and monetary terms are submitted to the USPS in accordance with requirements of the bid solicitation. The USPS evaluates the bids and accepts the ones that are in its best interest, but it may reject all bids.

USPS Transportation Contracts With Former Employees

The USPS is not permitted to contract with former employees. Companies forming contracts with the USPS must identify any former Postal Service employees and must have the contracting officer’s approval before starting the contracted work. The company must inform the contracting officer if it hires a former USPS employee after the contracted work has started.

If the Postal Service does not approve of the company’s retention of the former USPS employee, the company must replace the former employee with a person equally qualified to provide the services called for in the contract. Retired USPS executives may not work as key personnel, experts or consultants of companies contracting with the USPS within one year after leaving the Postal Service if they would be filling a position similar to the one they filled with the Postal Service.

Termination of USPS Trucking Contracts

The USPS may terminate a contract or a portion of the contract for any default on the part of the contracted company. It may terminate the contract if the company is not able to give adequate assurance of future performance. If a contract is terminated, the Postal Service is not liable for services or supplies it didn’t accept, but the company may be liable to the USPS for “any and all rights and remedies provided by law.”

The company and its partners or its principal officers may commit acts that constitute default of the contract. In any case of default, USPS may terminate the contract and it is not obliged to provide “notice and cure” to the contracting company. If it is determined that the termination was improper, then the termination will be deemed one of convenience, which is permissible in contracts with the USPS.

Rules for  Added Services

Trips that are in addition to those agreed upon between the USPS and the contracting company are negotiated in advance of the trip when the contracting officer deems it appropriate. He may order the trip or extra service at pro rata pay. The company may afterward be reimbursed for the difference between the costs of the trip and the pro rata pay, provided it has documents to prove the expenditures. It must file for reimbursement within 90 days after the services were performed.

In cases of multiple services given in addition to the contracted work, the company has 90 days after the final service to apply to the USPS for reimbursement. If the contracting company and the USPS fail to agree on reimbursement, the differences will be resolved under the “Claim and Dispute” clause in the contract.