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Summary

On February 5, we issued our report on lessons learned from the Department's response to the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. We found that having an emergency transportation services contract in place allowed the Department and its contractor to carry out a strong and rapid response to Hurricane Katrina and other 2005 hurricanes. The disasters also provided lessons about how contracting practices can be improved. We recommended that the Department ensure that administrative fee rates for future emergency contracts are structured appropriately to avoid overpaying when services dramatically increase. Additionally, we recommended use of negotiated profit rates that are appropriate for the types of contracts awarded. The Department agreed with the recommendations.