In a letter to the General Services Administration (GSA), American Clean Skies Foundation (ACSF), a not-for-profit organization seeking America’s energy independence and low-carbon environment, urged acting GSA Administrator Daniel M. Tangherlini to require the winner of the government’s overnight delivery vendor — estimated at a $1.5 billion contract from 2014 to 2018 — to meet annual emissions and petroleum reduction targets and to increase the use of alternative fuel vehicles.

The GSA solicitation is the third contract, known as Domestic Delivery Service (DDS3), to be bid to express and ground shipping. Federal agencies ship an estimated 15-35 million packages annually. FedEx won the first contract, and UPS was awarded the current, second (DDS2) contract in 2009, which will expire in September 2014. GSA is expected to advertise the DDS3 opportunity later this summer.

ACSF said that, in addition to DDS3, forthcoming transportation contracts by the Defense Logistics Agency and the U.S. Postal Service may also offer large opportunities for reducing petroleum use and unwanted emissions.

Learn more about ACSF’s letter and background: http://www.cleanskies.org/oilshift/DDS3-contract.