Upcoming Audit Work

In Fiscal Year 2022, Hurricane Ian touched down along the Florida Gulf Coast which caused the Everglades City Post Office to completely shut down all operations before mobile trucks were used to temporarily provide postal services to the community. Our objective is to evaluate the U.S. Postal Service's planning and recovery efforts for Hurricane Ian in Everglades City, FL.

In support of the Delivering for America Plan, the U.S. Postal Service plans to convert 400 facilities into Sorting and Distribution Centers (S&DC) beginning in November 2022. These centers will consolidate multiple delivery units into one facility, thereby reducing traffic between processing centers and post offices and increasing truck trailer utilization. The first six S&DCs were deployed as of February 2023, including two—Gainesville and Panama City S&DCs—in Florida 1 District. The objective of this audit is to assess the impact of S&DC implementation on surface transportation schedules in Florida 1 District.

The Management Operating Data System (MODS) uses a systematic approach to gather, store, and report data on workload, work hours, and machine utilization. MODS data is compiled in the Web-based application Web Management Operating Data System (WebMODS). WebMODS collects work hour data from the Time and Attendance Collection System (TACS) and workload and machine utilization data from the Web End-of-Run (WebEOR) system. This data is used by the Postal Service to perform key functions for the cost development process and calculate productivities for mail processing operations. Our objective is to assess the impact of WebMODS data on Postal Service costing.

The U.S. Postal Service uses Freight Auction automation for its transportation contract solicitation, bid, review, selection, and award of extra trips for Highway Contract Routes. 
Our objective is to assess the effectiveness of the Freight Auction for Highway Contract Routes. The scope of this project is a nationwide review of Freight Auction trips for fiscal years 2022 and 2023. Additionally, we plan to conduct site visits based on a judgmental sample selection.

The U.S. Postal Service projected in its initial Delivering for America Plan (DFA) that its revenue would cover its controllable expenses starting in FY 2023 and have positive net income by FY 2024. Rather, the Postal Service lost from its operations, $950 million in FY 2022 and $7.0 billion in FY 2023. This audit will examine the Postal Service current financial condition compared to it DFA projections and consider what contributed to those variances in FY 2022 and 2023, the assumptions the Postal Service used to make its DFA projections, and how these variances and actual results may impact the Postal Service’s future financials.