Client: FedEx Corporation
Opportunity: USPS Air Cargo Network Contract – Domestic Air Transportation for Priority and Express Mail
Award Year: 2013
Contract Term: Seven years, beginning October 2013
Contract Value: Approximately $10.5 billion over seven years (USPS, CNBC)
The Challenge
By 2013, the United States Postal Service (USPS) was facing mounting operational and financial pressures. Declining first-class mail volumes, growing competition from private carriers, and the need to meet customer expectations for fast, reliable package delivery put a strain on its air transportation network.
USPS required:
- A cost-efficient solution to move high volumes of Priority Mail and Express Mail
- Nationwide coverage with consistent, on-time performance
- A partner with the capacity and flexibility to handle fluctuating shipping demands
- Reliability at scale, given that billions in revenue depended on timely delivery
In short, USPS needed a logistics partner that could provide air cargo capacity, reliability, and cost stability over the long term—something it could not fully achieve on its own.
Opportunity & Context
On April 23, 2013, the United States Postal Service awarded FedEx a seven‑year Air Cargo Network contract to handle domestic air transportation of Priority and Express Mail. The award followed a rigorous, competitive procurement that evaluated proposals for technical merit, pricing, and value—ultimately concluding that FedEx offered the best value to USPS (USPS).
This contract promised USPS customers service improvements, enhanced capacity flexibility, and operational enhancements—representing a major strategic win for both parties (USPS).
OCI’s Role
OCI provided comprehensive, end-to-end proposal support to FedEx, ensuring the submission was compelling in technical substance and presentation.
- Provided a full proposal team including:
- Proposal Manager
- Two Volume Managers
- Four Technical Writers
- Coordinator
- Graphic Artist
- Desktop Publisher
- Two Technical Editors
- Two Color Team Reviewers
- Collaborated seamlessly with FedEx’s internal SMEs, enabling integrated, accurate, and efficient input gathering.
- Focused on creating a well-structured proposal, aligned with USPS’s evaluation criteria, including:
- Rigorous compliance with procurement guidelines
- A visually appealing layout with polished graphics and formatting
- Clear articulation of USP (Unique Selling Points) around capacity flexibility and performance improvements
Outcome
The proposal was successful, and FedEx won the USPS airmail services contract.
This win validated the power of investing in experienced proposal consultants and reinforced the importance of structured proposal development for complex federal bids.
Irony and Competitive Insight
Interestingly, before FedEx contacted OCI, one of its main competitors had approached OCI about the same opportunity. However, the competitor opted not to invest in proposal consulting support—deciding instead to rely on in-house resources. In hindsight, this decision may have affected their competitiveness.
Conclusion
OCI’s full-service proposal support was instrumental in helping FedEx secure a major federal contract with USPS. This case highlights:
- The value of dedicated proposal teams
- The effectiveness of collaboration between consultants and client SMEs
- The competitive edge gained by investing in expert proposal development