Expands the main menu

Breadcrumb

Pushing the Envelope Blog

Keeping Count

Date: 05/17/21 | Category: Mail Processing & Transportation

 

If you look at the OIG Office of Audit page, you’ll read our audits are “designed to protect assets and revenue, ensure efficient and economical mail delivery, and safeguard the integrity of the postal system.”

In doing so, our auditors examine every aspect of Postal Service operations, including areas that utilize third-party contractors. Take, for example, transportation. In a recent audit, we looked at the Transportation Contract Support System (TCSS), an automated contracting system for administering over 17,500 Postal Service highway contract routes, also known as HCRs. Our objective was to check the accuracy of the scheduled hours of and payments for HCRs for fiscal years 2016 through 2020.

To get our answers, we didn’t try to examine all 82,578 scheduled trips during this period. Instead, we performed a risk assessment that focused on the difference between calculated trip hours and reported trip hours. The greater the discrepancy, the higher the risk of the contracted schedules being overstated. We found 271 of the trips could be considered having high or medium risk levels.

While the scheduled hours recorded for these HCRs were generally accurate, we identified 84 instances where inaccurate schedule entries led to overpayments. While almost all of these errors were corrected in the entry system, the Postal Service had only recovered overpayments from five of the trips. We estimated there were about $4.1 million in overpayments the Postal Service should have recovered over the past five years.

Although the Postal Service informed us that it is switching to a new HCR management system, our recommendations provide potential guidelines to consider for the future system. For example, we found the Postal Service did not provide adequate oversight nor did it conduct periodic monitoring to detect and correct errors in a timely manner.

Interested in seeing more of our audits? Our completed audits can be found in the Documents section of this website, and some of our new audit work is featured under Audit Asks.

Leave a Comment

Your Name
Roger Weber
May 22, 2021
Your Comment
How much did the audit cost? What a waste. The overworked have more functional knowledge then the auditors. Real savings in many forms are had if you go all electric.
Your Name
Michael Lynch
May 22, 2021
Your Comment
The "changes" Dejoy has eneacted and proposed ALL need to be scrapped! The postal service is still, and will continue to be a vital part of the American way of life. There are still some who are not "electronically savvy" and there are just some things that cannot done electronically, i.e. prescription drugs. It is such a blatently obvious conflict of interest that he wants to "shift services to the private sector". How ironic and coincedental he has majority financial interests in those very same private companies.
HE.NEEDS.TO.GO!!!
The sooner the better!
Your Name
Shelly
May 22, 2021
Your Comment
I don’t know if I’m in the right place, here. I saw a segment, where postal workers were picketing in IA. I support their (USPS employees) fight against De Joys 10 year plan to destroy the USPS.
Please let’s take action against this attack.
Your Name
James A Daniel
May 22, 2021
Your Comment
Please don't let the 10yr.plan proposal come to fruition our country has suffered enough from the last administration. Stop the insanity!
Your Name
Kevin Kinnerk
May 21, 2021
Your Comment
DeJoy's plans to cripple the United States Postal Service is about as un-American an act as you could imagine. USPS is an American institution at the service of the American people, and it should not be a carcass for corporate carriers to feed from, courtesy of management intent on destroying this historical and essential service.
Your Name
Nick Cefaliello
May 21, 2021
Your Comment
Please do not further delay my mail. I have never had more lost mail and packages than over the last 3 years. I have informed delivery and it shows the pending mail which is lost. When I file a missing mail package I provide the tracking number and receive a response stating I didn't provide enough information, really? I give you the tracking number! The post office has gone downhill! Why? Also your web site is not user friendly. Guess you really don't care!!!
Your Name
Valerie Fashion
May 21, 2021
Your Comment
To Whom It May Concern:
Please do not accept the DeJoy Postal Service proposal. We want exceptional services not substandard services. Do not close any US Post Offices. I am not willing to accept any postal slow down. DeJoy has also destroyed the postal delivery service delivery time. Some days, I do not receive any mail delivery. The Post Office is mandated in the US Constitution. Keep the Post Office. Reject DeJoy's Plans. Remove him from that position. He is not good for postal business.
Your Name
Andy
May 21, 2021
Your Comment
The current mail system needs to be strengthened instead of broken down. The solution to the financial situation with the post office is not to slow the mail system and close branches but rather to increase the cost of shipment of business circulars, junk mail and catalog products. In addition, the cost of special services like overnight delivery need to be increased so that they actually run at a profit. On an employee level, contract negotiations need to go after antiquated union demands and the seemingly unending layers of management that hinder efficient operation.
Your Name
Anthony L Sutton
May 21, 2021
Your Comment
Please put a end to the current Post Master General’s plans to slow down delivery of the nations mail service. I, am a disabled veteran and I depend on the timely delivery of prescriptions. Thank you for this opportunity to be heard.
Your Name
Wynne Kantor
May 21, 2021
Your Comment
Please do not make changes Mr DeJoy is proposing. I rely on the mail for murmurous reasons. We need to keep all post offices open, not slow dow the mail or privatize it.
Thank you
Wynne Kantor
Your Name
Ute Schneider
May 21, 2021
Your Comment
The Post Office is important to everybody I know, especially for sending meds and election mail, I am all for making it more productive and efficient but I am against cutting back to the point that we experienced during the last election. Keep the Post office!
Your Name
Shawn Yarrell
May 20, 2021
Your Comment
I have not received mail for quite some time now and it has been effecting my livelihood. this has been a problem for many many people in the neighborhood. where is all of this mail that is showing up in the usps dashboard sitting and how can I get my mail ASAP???
Your Name
charlie
May 17, 2021
Your Comment
"ensure efficient and economical mail delivery."....It is exasperating to some of us who actuallt read your audits, especially ones on delivery..... Time and time again you investigate operations at the final point (post offices)... and, time and time again, you state that delays and problems occur because of late or incorrect deliveries... Yet...you never then take the next obvious step...Go to the upstream plants and find out what is happening?... And then help them solve the problems... Naturally the delays will continue and your audit is not worth the paper it is printed on... Follow up...follow up...follow up....We want you to be the best you can be.....