USPS Office of Inspector General

Do you know you can’t spell “essential services” without “Postal Service?” Okay, actually you can, but we are kicking off this blog series by looking at the important role the Postal Service has played providing essential services to our nation.

Did you know that July 1 is National Postal Worker Day? In its honor, we’re going to run a blog series during the month of July that focuses on the value the Postal Service brings to the nation. We all know the Postal Service delivers mail to almost every address six days a week. And there is probably no time like the present to make us appreciate our postal carrier delivering our medications and supplies. But the Postal Service provides even greater value than regular mail delivery.

As the reporting period for our Spring Semiannual Report to Congress (SARC) came to a close, we found ourselves amid a global health crisis unprecedented for our times.

The infographic gives you an overview of our work from October 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020: For example, 66 audit reports and white papers, with the Postal Service accepting 93 percent of our recommendations; 1,174 investigations that led to 401 arrests and more than $405 million in fines, restitution, and recoveries, more than $77.7 million of which was turned over to the Postal Service.

With three agencies that have “U.S. Postal Service” in their names, and each one having different responsibilities and jurisdictions, it’s no wonder people sometimes aren’t sure where to turn for help with lost, delayed, or damaged mail.

With the Postal Service solely responsible for mail delivery, it’s almost always the one to contact. But some circumstances warrant notifying us here at the OIG, or the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Our blog infographic illustrates the options, with links and contact information below.

Why does the U.S. Postal Service charge the same price for a greeting card going from Washington, D.C., to California as it does from Manhattan to Queens? Because the Postal Service must follow a set of regulations designed to ensure that everyone can send and receive mail at a reasonable price. Those regulations are called the “universal service obligation,” or USO. And it covers many aspects of mail delivery.