Upcoming Audit Work

The Postal Service’s mission is to provide the nation with trusted and secure mail services. Mail theft can occur through various methods, such as the use of stolen and counterfeit keys to access collection boxes; residential mailbox theft; and robbery of mail carriers. We initiated this project’s survey phase on September 2, 2022. Based on that work, we will assess the Postal Service’s response to mail theft by reviewing mail theft complaints and cases for a sample of locations nationwide.

The U.S Postal Service uses supplier-operated highway contract routes (HCR) to transport mail and equipment between plants, post offices, and other designated points. When the Postal Service causes a delay which results in a late HCR trip, the origin facility issues a late slip form to the HCR driver to receive compensation for the delay. Our objective is to evaluate the Postal Service’s management of the HCR late trip payment process. The scope of this project is a nationwide review of HCR late slip payment data during fiscal years 2021 to 2022.

The U.S. Postal Service contracts with supplier-operated highway contract routes to transport mail and equipment between plants, post offices, or other designated points that receive or dispatch mail. Our objective is to assess the Postal Service’s effectiveness in managing trailer utilization. The scope of this project is a nationwide review of trailer utilization between Postal Service facilities during fiscal years 2020 to 2022.

The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, as amended, established the Postal Service’s Board of Governors (Board). The Board directs and controls Postal Service expenditures, reviews its practices and policies, and establishes its objectives and long-range goals. Board policy requires an annual audit of Board expenses by the Office of the Inspector General. In Fiscal Year 2022, the Board incurred over $175,000 in travel, meeting, and other expenses. Our objective is to determine whether travel and miscellaneous expenses of the Board are properly supported, reasonable, and complied with Postal Service and Board policies and procedures.

The Postal Service relies on non-career employees to supplement its regular workforce to keep pace with shrinking mail revenue and reduce staffing cost. The Postal Service has four positions that constitute the non-career employee portfolio: (1) postal support employee, (2) city career assistant, (3) mail handler assistant, and (4) rural carrier associate. Our objective is to assess the Postal Service’s ongoing actions to reduce non-career turnover rates. The scope of our audit is non-career employee hiring and turnover/retention during fiscal year 2019 through 2022.