United States Postal Service Government Contracts — Contractor Guide
Researched by the BidStride Research Team
The U.S. Postal Service is an independent federal agency that operates the nation's postal system. USPS contracts for vehicle fleet (including its electric vehicle modernization), facilities maintenance, transportation logistics, IT systems, mail processing equipment, and professional services. USPS is not subject to the standard federal FAR-based acquisition system, using its own procurement regulations, making it a distinct market from standard federal contracting.
United States Postal Service awards approximately $15B+ in contracts annually with a 25% small business contracting goal. Typical contract types used include FFP, IDIQ, Blanket Purchase Agreement, Transportation Contract. All USPS solicitations above the simplified acquisition threshold are posted on SAM.gov.
$15B+
25%
of prime contract dollars
Key Procurement Offices
United States Postal Service contracting is distributed across these offices and commands. Target your business development toward the offices most aligned with your capabilities, and build relationships before solicitations are released.
- USPS Supply Management (SM)
- USPS Information Technology
- USPS Fleet Management
Top NAICS Codes — USPS Contracting
These NAICS codes appear most frequently in United States Postal Service solicitations. Ensure your SAM.gov registration includes the codes matching your services.
Small Business Goals — USPS
United States Postal Service has a statutory small business prime contracting goal of 25% of annual contract dollars. This applies across all socioeconomic categories including 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, and SDVOSB.
Ensure your certifications are current on SAM.gov to qualify for set-aside competitions. Contracting officers are required by law to first consider whether requirements can be met by small businesses before opening competition to all offerors.
Key Regulations — USPS Contracts
Contractors bidding on United States Postal Service contracts should understand these regulations and clauses. Review them before submitting any proposal.
- USPS Procurement Manual (PM)
- Not subject to FAR
- USPS Privacy Requirements
- Postal Inspection Service Security Requirements
Always verify applicable clauses in the actual solicitation. Clause applicability depends on contract type, value, and specific program requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions — USPS Contracting
USPS uses its own Procurement Manual (PM) rather than the FAR, making it a distinct market. USPS is an independent establishment — not an executive branch agency — so standard federal small business set-aside programs do not apply in the same way. However, USPS has its own supplier diversity programs. Vendors must register with USPS's supplier database, not just SAM.gov.
USPS awards hundreds of millions in highway contract route (HCR) transportation contracts annually. These are fixed-route mail transportation contracts for rural carriers and intercity highway routes. Transportation companies and owner-operators can access these opportunities through the USPS transportation bidding system. These contracts are awarded regionally and vary significantly in size.
USPS is in the midst of a historic fleet modernization to purchase up to 165,000 next-generation delivery vehicles (NGDVs), with a commitment to increase the electric vehicle (EV) percentage. The NGDV contract was awarded to Oshkosh Defense. Subcontracting opportunities exist in the EV charging infrastructure buildout and fleet maintenance ecosystem. USPS facilities upgrades for EV charging are contracted separately.
USPS manages over 31,000 post office facilities and contracts for construction, renovation, maintenance, and janitorial services. USPS IT contracts cover mail processing automation, package tracking systems, delivery optimization software, and cybersecurity. USPS technology contracts are competitive and not widely publicized outside the USPS supplier portal.
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