Volume 70 · 781
Public Law 84–862
Relating to the transportation of mail by highway post office service, and for other purposes.
Approved August 1, 1956
Statutory text
AN ACT
Relating to the transportation of mail by highway post office service, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That this Act may be
Highway Post Office Service Act of 1955.
cited as the “Highway Post Office Service Act of 1955”.
Sec. 2.
The Postmaster General may provide highway post office service, either by contract or Government-owned motor vehicle, for carrying the mails and postal employees on routes between points where in his judgment conditions justify the operation of such service. The motor vehicles shall be especially designed and equipped for the distribution of mail en route and shall be constructed, fitted up, maintained, and operated in accordance with such specifications, rules, and regulations as the Postmaster General may prescribe.
Sec. 3.
Contracts for highway post office service shall be obtained
Contracts.
in accordance with section 3709 of the Revised Statutes as amended (41 U.S.C. 5).
Sec. 4.
The Postmaster General may make contracts for highway
Terms.
post office service for terms not to exceed six years.
The Postmaster General may make provisions in contracts for
Changes in Millage, etc.
highway post office service for increasing or decreasing the mileage, increasing or decreasing the hours of service required or for other service changes. He may also provide in such contracts for the readjustment of compensation paid thereunder, either upward or downward to reflect such changes, and to reflect increased or decreased costs attributable to changed conditions occurring during the contract term over which the Postmaster General or the contractor have no control and which could not reasonably have been foreseen at the time the original bid was made or the proposal for renewal filed.
Contracts for highway post office service may provide for the
Fines and penalties.
imposition or remission of fines and penalties by the Postmaster General for delinquencies in the performance of the contract. Each such contract shall contain a provision providing for its cancellation by the Postmaster General and may provide for an indemnity payment by the Postmaster General in the event of such cancellation.
Contracts for highway post office service may contain such other provisions as the Postmaster General deems appropriate.
Sec. 5.
The Postmaster General, by mutual agreement with the
Renewal.
holder of a contract for highway post office service and without submitting the service for bids, may renew the contract for successive periods of not more than six years at the rates of compensation prevailing at the end of the preceding contract term.
If the holder of a contract for highway post office service has
Contracts with subcontractors.
sublet his contract in accordance with its terms and does not indicate in writing to the Postmaster General at least ninety days before the end of contract term that he desires to renew the contract, the Postmaster General may enter into a contract with a subcontractor then performing tire service, in the same manner and upon the same terms as prescribed in subsection (a) of this section, if such subcontractor has performed the service required under the contract to the satisfaction of the Postmaster General for a period of at least six months.
Sec. 6.
Where there is no contractor legally bound or required to
Contracts without advertising.
perform the service desired by the Postmaster General or when an accepted bidder or contractor shall fail or refuse to perform the service on a route according to his accepted proposal or his contract the Postmaster General, without advertising, may contract for the service desired or continue the service originally contracted for in such manner and in such equipment as he may deem to be in the public interest for a term of not to exceed one year.
Sec. 7.
The Postmaster General may require such bond or bonds as he deems necessary to protect the interests of the Government. Such bond shall be in the form and amount and contain such conditions as he may prescribe.
Sec. 8.
Sections 1 and 2 of the Act of July 11, 1940, entitled “An Act to provide for the transportation and distribution of mails on motor-vehicle routes” (54 Stat. 756; 39 U. S. C. 505, 506) are hereby repealed.
Approved August 1, 1956.