FedEx was the U.S. Postal Service’s largest contractor in fiscal year 2012 in a list of the agency’s Top 150 suppliers compiled and released today by Husch Blackwell's Postal Service Contracting practice group. This marks a decade of Federal Express Corporation holding the No. 1 spot on the list. The next largest USPS supplier is military mail shipper Kalitta Air. Six of the Postal Service’s top ten suppliers served the agency’s transportation needs. The list is compiled annually by David P. Hendel, a partner in the firm whose government contracts practice focuses on Postal Service contracting matters.
Top-ranked FedEx transports Express Mail, Priority Mail and First Class Mail and earned postal revenues of more than $1.618 billion in fiscal 2012 – up from $1.495 billion. Ironically, FedEx is both one of the Postal Service’s closest competitors and its largest business partner. Another postal competitor, United Parcel Service (UPS), also joined the top 10, earning $126 million in revenues from the agency.
Pat Salmon & Sons Inc., a mail hauler which acquired trucking company Mail Contractors of America, Inc., took the third spot. Northrop Grumman recently secured a three-year contract to continue to operate the Postal Service’s central repair facility in Topeka, Kansas, and is fourth. The other transportation-related providers in the top ten include Wheeler Bros. (vehicle parts) and United Airlines (air mail). Engineering and electronics company Siemens jumped back into the top ten as well, with $167 million in revenues, though a far cry from the $554 million it earned in 2007.
The largest technology provider was Hewlett-Packard (HP) at $143 million – up substantially from $80 million the year before. Accenture, which provides software and consulting services, appears on the list for the fourth consecutive year. International Business Machines (IBM) boosted its postal revenues but dropped two spots to No. 11. Overall, the Postal Service spent $11.9 billion on goods, services and facilities in 2012, down slightly from $12.1 billion in 2011.
The below list features the top 10 suppliers, showing rankings for Fiscal Year 2012 and FY 2011 (October 1, 2011 - September 30, 2012), from the full top 150 report. The list is prepared based on data received from the U.S. Postal Service in response to Freedom of Information Act requests. Entries for known affiliated companies are consolidated to obtain a more accurate representation.
|
FY 2012 Rank |
FY 2011 |
Supplier Name |
FY 2012 Revenue |
City, State |
|
1 |
1 |
Federal Express Corporation |
1,618,197,536.71 |
Pasadena, CA |
|
2 |
2 |
Kalitta Air |
396,618,974.95 |
Ypsilanti, MI |
|
3 |
4 |
Pat Salmon & Sons, Inc.* |
227,979,587.43 |
Little Rock, AR |
|
4 |
3 |
Northrop Grumman* |
184,363,645.00 |
Merrifield, VA |
|
5 |
20 |
Siemens* |
167,811,740.07 |
Arlington, TX |
|
6 |
10 |
United Airlines, Inc. |
153,411,749.00 |
Pasadena, CA |
|
7 |
15 |
Hewlett-Packard Co.* |
143,553,827.00 |
Atlanta. GA |
|
8 |
7 |
Accenture |
135,883,812.57 |
Chicago, IL |
|
9 |
5 |
Wheeler Bros., Inc. |
129,735,270.65 |
Somerset, PA |
|
10 |
11 |
United Parcel Service, Inc.* |
126,357,591.00 |
Louisville, KY |
*Denotes consolidated entries.
The firm's Postal Service Contracting group assists clients in contracting with the U.S. Postal Service, and its members are knowledgeable regarding the needs specific to the postal industry. Hendel has developed and presented several training courses on postal contracting. He also writes a monthly column on postal contracting issues for the National Star Route Mail Contractors Association. He has represented hundreds of postal contractors on a wide range of issues.