About Us

DHL, FedEx, and UPS—the three large integrated express delivery companies—created the Express Association of America (EAA) in 2008. EAA’s policy advocacy efforts are organized around four committees that address customs, security, export and trade issues.

EAA Advocacy Work:

EAA collaborates with other national level associations whose members share common interests with the express industry regarding the streamlined, compliant, and efficient processing of goods moving across the U.S. border, both imports and exports.

EAA works constantly with Government agencies to develop innovative and effective procedures for ensuring both the Government’s mission to protect the health and safety of the U.S. people and the trade community’s goal of operating compliant and effective supply chains are met.

EAA members provide the critical logistics capabilities to support the rapidly accelerating growth of e-commerce, particularly for the numerous small and medium-sized companies that can access worldwide markets through express delivery. The global e-commerce market increased to $5.5 trillion in 2022 and is expected to double over the next five years.

The critical importance of e-commerce, and the indispensable role of the express industry in making e-commerce happen, has never been more clearly illustrated than in the world’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. From the initial onset of the pandemic, the express industry played the critical role in providing the personal protective equipment, medicines, medical devices and other health supplies that hospital staff and other first responders required, thus contributing to saving many lives. Many of these delivery services were provided on a pro bono basis. When the COVID vaccine was developed, the express industry was nearly the exclusive delivery method chosen by both pharmaceutical companies and Governments to distribute the vaccine to communities worldwide, and one of the few delivery methods that already had the complex temperature-controlled conveyances the vaccine demanded.

Express delivery flights are nearly always the preferred choice for quickly providing supplies to respond to any natural or man-made disaster. With the response to COVID-19, it was only the express industry that had the global capacity to deliver critically needed supplies and the vaccine rapidly and reliably. Additionally, when lockdowns associated with controlling the spread of COVID restricted citizens’ ability to obtain food and other essentials, e-commerce became a vital support line for families and their main means of ensuring they could safely receive the basic commodities they needed to survive through express delivery.

EAA Key Issues

Our Members

EAA members DHL, FedEx, and UPS, the three largest express delivery service providers in the world, provide fast and reliable service to the United States and more than 220 other countries and territories.

These EAA member companies have estimated annual revenues in excess of $200 billion, employ more than 1.5 million people, utilize more than 1700 aircraft, and deliver more than 30 million packages each day. EAA members employ one million people in the United States, and U.S. employment has grown 27% over the past five years. They routinely add another 160,000 employees during the peak holiday season.

The express shipment process itself makes invaluable contributions daily to enhancing opportunities for small businesses to grow and increase employment by providing them with a world class logistics system that is highly reliable and low cost. Trade facilitation measures, specifically express shipment provisions, help to reduce costs and eliminate complex administrative burdens in international trade that alleviates some of the structural barriers that parties with limited resources and experience would otherwise be unable to overcome. By providing express services that few small businesses could duplicate on their own, EAA members allow every business, but specifically SMEs, to access global markets and build their reputations for high quality and reliability worldwide. As e-commerce has expanded exponentially in recent years, the express industry is providing a global logistics capability to numerous individuals who are starting micro-businesses driven by their entrepreneurial abilities, including many people from less developed and underserved communities. Additionally, 70% of the suppliers of goods and services to EAA members are small businesses.

Board Members

Roger Libby

Head of Corporate Public Affairs
DHL Group

Bio

As Head of Corporate Public Affairs for the DHL group in the Americas, Roger Libby manages the engagement of Congress and the Administration on climate change, customs, energy, homeland security, trade, and transportation policies. He joined DHL in 2004 and represents the company before both U.S. and international governments and organizations on the development and implementation of public policy matters affecting the logistics industry.

Roger is on the Board of the Express Association of America and National Foreign Trade Council, and he is Chair of the Policy Committee of the U.S. Department of Commerce Investment Advisory Council (IAC). He previously served as Sherpa to the United Nations High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport and member of the TSA Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC).

Prior to DHL, Roger served in the U.S. Department of Transportation from 2002 until 2004, where he was twice recognized by the Secretary, and worked in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1997 until 2002 for Rep. Zach Wamp (TN) and Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers (KY), then Chairman of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee.

Roger earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington and Lee University (1995) and Masters in Global Security Studies from Johns Hopkins University (2012). He is a Paul Harris Fellow with Rotary International, Bryce Harlow Foundation Fellow, and 2010 American Council on Germany Young Leader.

Ralph Carter

Staff Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
FedEx

Bio

As Staff Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Mr. Carter leads a team of regulatory attorneys responsible for compliance and policy advocacy at FedEx Express. Areas of responsibility include aviation law, security, customs, export controls, workplace safety and trade policy. Mr. Carter also coordinates global regulatory and trade policy across all FedEx international regions. Mr. Carter’s team advocates for simpler, more open trade rules that reduce barriers and help FedEx customers expand their international business. Mr. Carter is a frequent speaker and contributor to international trade and economic policy organizations including APEC, the WTO, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. Mr. Carter has also served as Managing Director in the legal department of FedEx’s Europe, Middle East and Africa headquarters in Brussels Belgium. Prior to FedEx, Mr. Carter served in the State Department as Special Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union.

Dontai Smalls

Senior Vice President, Global Public Affairs
UPS

Bio

Dontai Smalls serves as Senior Vice President of Global Public Affairs for UPS in Washington, D.C. where he establishes and executes on strategies to enhance understanding of UPS and the issues impacting the transportation & logistics industry. Leading a team of international policy experts, Dontai coordinates legislative advocacy on international policy for UPS, particularly focused on trade and customs modernization policy. He has led several industry level efforts to modernize customs processes and enhance trade facilitation.

Dontai is also responsible in Washington for the global aviation portfolio for UPS, which operates one of the largest airlines in world. He is knowledgeable on international aviation policy representing the interests of UPS before numerous international organizations and foreign governments. Additionally, he coordinates advocacy efforts on domestic aviation policy, including advancing industry priorities on limiting regulatory barriers and promoting international harmonization during the legislative process for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization.

He manages the relationships between UPS and the Congressional Study Groups, which provide substantive, issue-based opportunities for Members of Congress to engage with their counterparts abroad.

He serves on the Board of Directors of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, U.S. Capitol Historical Society (Vice Chair), Washington Government Relations Group (Vice President), Public Affairs Council, South Carolina Business Council in Washington, and Educare DC (Vice Chair).

Dontai received his Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center and his B.A. cum laude in political science from Howard University.

A native of South Carolina, he now lives in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, DC with his wife and their two children.