NIGP 96224: Courier/Delivery Services (Including Air Courier Services)

NIGP 96224 Courier/Delivery Services (Including Air Courier Services), an Item code, covers the pickup and transportation of materials, specimens, documents, and valuables between government facilities and designated endpoints—including laboratory specimens, wastewater samples, deposit bags, mail, pharmacy inventory, and medical equipment. State and local governments are actively procuring courier services across multiple operational contexts: laboratory specimen transport with temperature control and chain-of-custody compliance; armored deposit and cash transportation with security requirements; routine mail and document delivery between agency offices; and specialized fulfillment and logistics support for conveyance-dependent operations. Issuing bodies span state health and human services departments (Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, South Dakota Department of Health, Texas HHSC, Illinois IDHS), county health departments and public utilities agencies (Hillsborough County in Florida, DeKalb County in Georgia), county government offices (Gwinnett County in Georgia), school districts (Polk County in Florida), municipalities (City of Little Rock, City of DeBary), transit authorities (Orange County Transportation Authority in California), and special-purpose districts (Visit St. Pete-Clearwater Convention and Visitors Bureau). Several state health laboratory systems have posted multiple overlapping or successive solicitations for newborn screening and clinical specimen courier services, indicating repeat procurement cycles and sustained demand.

Recent activity clusters geographically in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Dakota, and Illinois, with additional opportunities posted from Texas, California, Arkansas, and Maine. Representative recent solicitations include the South Dakota Department of Health's RFP for statewide laboratory courier services with potential geographic split awards and next-day delivery requirements (due November 27, 2026); the Orange County Transportation Authority's IFB for mail house services supporting multilingual postcard campaigns with DBE participation goals and a $427,000 budget (due October 20, 2026); Hillsborough County's ITB for wastewater courier services transporting samples between five treatment plants and a central laboratory on a seven-day-per-week schedule for $150,061.13 over three years (due October 30, 2026); Gwinnett County's sealed-bid procurement for armored deposit services serving 39 county locations with approximately $8.5 million in average monthly deposit volume and incumbent replacement at year-end (due October 26, 2026); and Kentucky's multiple concurrent RFBs for newborn screening specimen courier services with best-value scoring, state-resident preference, and historical annual value of $520,260 (bids due July 20, 2026). Set-asides and preferences appear frequently: DBE participation goals, SBE and MBE preferences, service-disabled veteran participation targets, and Kentucky resident bidder reciprocal preference. Insurance requirements across opportunities range from $1 million commercial general liability and $300,000 to $1 million automobile liability as minimums; armored and high-value transport solicitations demand $1 to $2 million aggregate limits and specialized crime or fidelity coverage.