Delivery Services
utomation continues to make moving paper and packages more efficient and competitive. Industry leaders have invested in technology to move materials quickly and reliably, including Federal Express, UPS, Roadway Express (which specializes in trucking) and DHL (which specializes in overseas deliveries). Customers may use the Internet to sign up with a vendor, compare prices, print airbills, request pickups, track packages and generate billing updates. Several leading companies provide offices the hardware and software to accomplish these tasks.
"They're not providing just a shipping service anymore, but data information services as well," says Sue McIver, deputy director of the Services Acquisition Center at GSA. "Workers are managing materials more, so they want information about what, where and when."
GSA's contract with FedEx to provide overnight and two-day services went into effect a year ago. Although use of GSA vendors is no longer mandatory, "we got wonderful prices, so I'd be surprised if most [agencies] didn't use FedEx," says McIver.
The Postal Service, which is the only supplier that can deliver to Post Office boxes, also has a share of the market. But restrictions placed by the Postal Rate Commission make its price and services less competitive, McIver says.
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