The Federal Aviation Administration overpaid $33 million to a contractor supplying buses for evacuees fleeing New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina because the agency paid a $59 million bill without any documentation, according to an inspector general report released yesterday.
The contractor, Landstar Express America Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., repaid the overcharge three weeks after the paperwork was requested, said the report by the Transportation Department inspector general. It said the overpayment occurred because the initial quote was for 1,100 buses per day at a cost of $5,000 per bus, when the actual numbers turned out to be 400 buses at $1,550 a day. That accounted for $32 million of the overpayments; the rest was for chartered aircraft services.
The report said the government made a $59 million partial payment to Landstar on Sept. 23 without having any documentation of its actual costs. The inspector general's office asked the contracting officer about the missing paperwork on Oct. 13 and Landstar was asked to provide it the same day. On Nov. 7, Landstar provided documents for $27 million in costs and submitted a check for the $32 million difference the same day, the report said.
Washington Post
The contractor, Landstar Express America Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., repaid the overcharge three weeks after the paperwork was requested, said the report by the Transportation Department inspector general. It said the overpayment occurred because the initial quote was for 1,100 buses per day at a cost of $5,000 per bus, when the actual numbers turned out to be 400 buses at $1,550 a day. That accounted for $32 million of the overpayments; the rest was for chartered aircraft services.
The report said the government made a $59 million partial payment to Landstar on Sept. 23 without having any documentation of its actual costs. The inspector general's office asked the contracting officer about the missing paperwork on Oct. 13 and Landstar was asked to provide it the same day. On Nov. 7, Landstar provided documents for $27 million in costs and submitted a check for the $32 million difference the same day, the report said.
Washington Post
