Upcoming Audit Work

Under its Delivering for America plan, the Postal Service committed to modernizing equipment to improve efficiency, increase mail security, and ensure carrier safety. The Mobile Delivery Device-Technology Refresh (MDD-TR) is a hand-held scanner used by carriers that went through modernization efforts - including the addition of an electronic lock function which requires dual authentication to access a mail receptacle - to achieve Postal Service’s above objectives. Our audit will assess the functional efficiency of the MDD-TR and the impact on physical security of collection boxes through electronic lock technology and public awareness efforts.

The U.S. Postal Service’s mission is to provide the nation with trusted, safe, and secure mail services. As the Postal Service provides mail service to almost 153 million customers six days a week as part of its universal service obligation, mail can be subject to theft to include internal theft. Internal mail theft includes the theft, destruction, or delay of mail and packages by postal employees. Our objective is to assess the U.S. Postal Service’s efforts to prevent and detect internal mail theft in mail processing facilities.

Most of the Postal Service’s current fleet of delivery vehicles are outdated, expensive to maintain, and lack certain modern safety and operational features such as airbags. As part of its Delivering for America 10-year plan, the Postal Service aims to modernize its aging fleet with both Next Generation Delivery Vehicles and Commercial-Off-the-Shelf vehicles, which include battery-electric and internal combustion engine vehicles. This audit will assess the status of the Postal Service’s acquisition of new delivery vehicles.

Postal facilities are used to process a variety of market dominant and competitive letter, Flat, and parcel mail products. Some of these facilities are used to process only parcel mail products. The Postal Service uses methodologies established by the Postal Regulatory Commission to determine its attributable and fixed costs, which are also referred to as institutional costs. Our objective is to assess the Postal Service's processes for tracking and attributing costs for parcel-only processing facilities. The scope of our audit is for fiscal years 2019 through 2024. The estimated report release date is September 2024.

In 2022, the Postal Service announced it will convert select facilities into Sorting and Delivery Centers (S&DCs) in support of its Delivering for America plan. According to the Postal Service, the goal of S&DCs is to reduce transportation and mail handling costs, as well as provide customers with additional services; and allow for easier standardization and management of operations while improving building and operating conditions for employees.

The OIG will evaluate whether the Postal Service established and met operational goals for the implementation of S&DCs. Specifically, we will focus on S&DCs that began operations in or prior to September 2023.