Background

The U.S. Postal Service needs effective and productive operations to fulfill its mission of providing prompt, reliable, and affordable mail service to the American public. It has a vast transportation network that moves mail and equipment among approximately 315 processing facilities and 31,200 post offices, stations, and branches. The Postal Service is transforming its processing and logistics networks to become more scalable, reliable, visible, efficient, automated, and digitally integrated. This includes modernizing operating plans and aligning the workforce to meet marketplace needs; leveraging emerging technologies to provide world-class visibility and tracking of mail and packages in near real time; and optimizing the surface and air transportation network. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews the efficiency of mail processing operations at facilities across the country and provides management with timely feedback to further the Postal Service’s mission.

This report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of the efficiency of operations at the Santa Clarita Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) in Santa Clarita, CA (Project Number 25-123). We judgmentally selected the Santa Clarita P&DC based on delivery unit performance scores at the district level. After selecting the delivery and retail district, we reviewed several performance indicators for the Santa Clarita P&DC during fiscal years (FY) 2024-2025, including Leg 1 and Leg 3 failures; mail clearance times; workhours, mail volume, and productivity; scanning compliance; scanner accountability; and late, canceled, and extra trips. The Santa Clarita P&DC is in the Southern California Division and processes letters, flats, and 3-digit ZIP Codes in urban and rural communities (see Table 1).