Upcoming Audit Work

Our objective is to evaluate the Postal Service’s service performance of Election Mail during the November 2022 mid-term election. To monitor the Postal Service’s compliance with procedures regarding the processing and delivery of Election Mail (Ballots) during the 2022 Mid-Term Elections, we will conduct site visits at 500 various Postal Service facilities to include processing plants, delivery units, and International Service Centers the month before and the week of the Mid-Term Election.

The Postal Service is responsible for monitoring highway contract route (HCR) suppliers performance and should be addressing irregularities including services not provided or omitted by suppliers. Our objective is to evaluate the Postal Service’s efficiency of managing HCR omitted service. We plan to review trips that a supplier does not complete. The scope of this project is a nationwide review of HCR omitted trips during fiscal years 2020 to 2022.

Flats are a type of mail that includes magazines, catalogs, and similar mailpieces. They are larger than letter mail and generally cost more for the Postal Service to process and deliver. Currently, not all flats generate enough revenue to cover their costs which can creates a net loss for the Postal Service. Our objective is to review the progress of the Postal Service's cost reduction initiatives that impact Flats products. Our scope is all Postal Service cost reduction initiatives that impact flats products from FY 2017 to FY 2021. We plan to release our final report in May 2023.

The Postal Service invests its excess cash, when available, in highly liquid, short-term investments issued by the U.S. Treasury. Given that the investments are short-term, they provide limited returns to the Postal Service. Treasury has the sole authority to select the investments for Postal Service’s excess cash. Our objective is to assess the Postal Service's investment of its cash balances and identify opportunities to improve investment and borrowing strategies and to reduce interest rate risk. Our scope will include national economic trends, investment rate modeling, and the Postal Service’s investment and borrowing policies and practices.

The Postal Service owns over 8,400 and leases over 23,000 properties ranging in size from 273 square feet to 32 acres. This includes retail facilities in communities of all income levels across the nation. As part of the 10-year Delivering for America plan, the Postal Service plans to invest in these facilities as well as refresh the customer lobbies. 
Our objectives are to (1) examine the distribution of resources for maintenance and repairs at retail facilities in lower and higher-income communities and (2) assess the impact of the Delivering for America plan on these communities. Congress requested that we perform this audit and include an analysis of the ratio of retail facilities to population in high-income versus low-income communities.