Procurement Costs of General Purpose Mail Containers Can Be Reduced

Gao ID: GGD-81-99 September 23, 1981

GAO reviewed restrictive conditions and specifications in Postal Service solicitations and contracts and their impact on competition, cost, and the Postal Service's relationship with private industry. Specifically, GAO reviewed the Postal Service's formally advertised, fixed price contracts for general purpose mail containers and shelf inserts.

GAO found that the companies which bid on or requested the solicitation for these containers were generally pleased with the solicitation, and they did not identify any unduly restrictive conditions or specifications. Although the container specifications were not found to restrict competition, GAO believes that the requirements for one of the awards resulted in excessive freight costs.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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