USPS Office of Inspector General

At one time, it was called Third-Class Mail. Today, it's known as Standard Mail. In 2017, it will be called (USPS) Marketing Mail. The U.S. Postal Service has proposed a name change for Standard Mail to better signal to customers that this mail is used primarily to market a product or service.

The U.S. Postal Service has an obligation to ensure the safety of its employees by creating and maintaining a violence-free work environment. Our recent audit work confirmed that the Postal Service has a comprehensive program to identify, review, report, and address employee assaults.

Postal Service employees who have been assaulted can take one or more of the following actions based on the circumstances:

Credit Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for bringing drones into the public consciousness with his December 13, 2013, 60 Minutes interview. In what many skeptics viewed as a masterful piece of marketing, he predicted that in the next 5 years, drones would further revolutionize the online retail industry. Suddenly, drones were on the national radar screen, even though only a few test models were actually flying.

There’s gold in them thar hills. Black gold that is. And gas and minerals. It’s not likely to spawn a TV show, like The Beverly Hillbillies, but the U.S. Postal Service has some experience with oil and gas leases, and earning royalties from them.

With mail volume declining and the mail mix changing, the U.S. Postal Service is adjusting processing capacity and the size of the network to better match the current workload. But getting to the end game has been painful, with plenty of bumps and bruises. Service, in particular, has taken a hit.