Upcoming Audit Work

To address the need for greater package sorting capacity, the Postal Service has a plan to deploy numerous package sorting machines to mail processing facilities. Specifically, the Single Induction Package Sorter (SIPS) machines were deployed to locations which needed additional processing capacity. Our objective is to evaluate the strategic plan and performance of these SIPS machines. To evaluate performance, we will conduct observations at high and low performing facilities, review strategic plans and interview Postal Service management.

More than 590,000 Postal Service employees are members of one of seven different unions that negotiate their wages and benefits. Changes to wages and benefits are determined through contract negotiations and ratification by their members. Following contract ratification, the Postal Service begins processing the agreed-upon changes to employees’ pay and benefits, known as retroactive pay, which is the amount that has accumulated from the end date of their last contract through the ratification date of their current contract. Our audit objective is to assess the United States Postal Service’s processes and systems over retroactive pay. 

The Postal Service uses return on investment (ROI) as a tool to approve capital project investments and measure a project’s success. Capital investments from fiscal years (FY) 2010 to 2020 averaged about $1.1 billion annually. The Delivering for America and Integrated Financial plans project that capital investments will average about $4.2 billion annually from FY 2021 to 2030. Our objective is to evaluate the Postal Service’s process for estimating and monitoring the ROI for capital projects greater than $5 million.

The Postal Service uses overtime to provide flexibility in meeting their service demands. Penalty overtime is a premium pay that eligible employees receive at the rate of two times their base hourly rate. In fiscal years (FY) 2020 through 2022, the Postal Service used about 60 million hours of penalty overtime at an estimated cost of $3.2 billion. Our objective is to assess the Postal Service’s management of penalty overtime. 

An Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) is a commercial-off-the-shelf powered industrial vehicle modified to enable driverless operation. The Postal Service uses AGVs to move mail at select processing facilities. They are intended to reduce labor costs and introduce automation in Postal Service facilities. Our objective is to evaluate the Postal Service’s use of Automated Guided Vehicles in mail processing operations.