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.
For many rural residents, mail is a lifeline, providing connections with government, commerce, and each other. The local post office offers a community a sense of identity as well as a retail hub that serves a central role, even as rural populations continue to decline. It’s not just an American thing: post offices function similarly in rural communities around the globe.
For many international posts, rural networks may lose money. How they’ve dealt with that can provide lessons for the U.S. Postal Service.
The health and safety of U.S. Postal Service employees and customers is a priority. Over the past few years, our office has done a series of audits to determine if USPS management is adhering to building safety, maintenance, and security standards at its facilities.
You’ve probably noticed that wherever you go in this country, it’s pretty easy to find a post office. After all, the U.S. Postal Service has the largest retail network in the country, using its more than 31,000 locations to provide vital services like mailing and shipping, passport processing,...
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From wearing masks and working at home to popularizing terms like “social distancing” and “contact tracing,” the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on life has been far and wide. Most people just don’t do things the way they used to, and according to our new survey, that includes some of the ways they...
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While many of our audit reports are planned in advance, from time to time we respond to situations that require immediate response. Take, for example, the reports of mail delays and wait times up to 15 hours for truck drivers in Cleveland in December 2020.
As discussed in our recently...
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Seamless Acceptance is the automation of mail verification of mailings from mail service providers (MSPs) who apply unique Intelligent Mail barcodes (IMb) on mailpieces, trays, sacks, pallets, and other containers. The MSPs submit electronic data that provides information on the corresponding...
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Mail is processed manually when its dimensions or address quality prevent it from being processed automatically. Processing mail manually has significantly lower productivity than processing mail on automated mail processing equipment.
From fiscal year (FY) 2019 to FY 2020,...
The Postal Service owns more than 8,400 facilities. In the wake of the global pandemic, public expectations for trusted and safe indoor business environments, including those of the Postal Service, are evolving. Research has shown that airborne transmission of the coronavirus should be...
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