Field Operations Service Review: Delivery Operations
Background
During fiscal years 2023 and 2024, the Field Operations Review Team completed audits of 72 delivery units to assess delivery operations and property conditions. We found about 800,000 delayed mailpieces across these delivery units. Most of the delayed mail was not accurately reported. We also identified arrow key management and scanning issues, including missing and unsecured keys and carriers scanning packages away from their intended delivery address. We summarized our findings and made recommendations to district management in our capping reports.
What We Did
Our objective was to evaluate trends with service and operational performance at previously audited delivery units and determine potential areas of improvement. We revisited 21 previously audited delivery units and assessed delayed mail, stop-the-clock scans, and arrow key inventories. We also analyzed system data and interviewed various levels of management.
What We Found
We determined delivery units were still underreporting or not reporting delayed mail, which could have a direct impact on delivery service for customers. During fieldwork, we identified a total of 133,863 delayed mailpieces at 20 of the 21 units we visited. At the 20 units, we determined 10 units did not report any delayed mail, nine units underreported the volume, and one unit reported it accurately. This underreporting is consistent with past audit results. Further analysis indicated that underreported delayed mail may be a nationwide issue. Reporting delayed mail is a manual process that can be time intensive, but the Postal Service has an opportunity to use technology to improve reporting. Second, the number of packages inaccurately scanned at the unit decreased for 58 of the 72 previously audited facilities. Although this was an improvement for those sites, improper scanning remained an issue at other units nationwide. Local management would benefit from specific guidance on how to monitor and track package scanning consistently. Finally, revisited delivery units still did not keep accurate arrow key inventories. A lack of system controls contributed to inaccurate reporting. Our findings and recommendations provide opportunities for the Postal Service to remedy systemic issues and improve field operations, ultimately improving service to the customer.
Recommendations and Management’s Comments
We made two recommendations related to delayed mail, one related to scanning compliance, and three related to mail safety and security. Postal Service management agreed with two, partially agreed with one, and disagreed with three recommendations. Management’s comments and our evaluation are at the end of each finding and recommendation. We consider management’s comments responsive to the two agreed upon recommendations, as corrective actions should resolve the issues identified. We will work with management through the audit resolution process on the remaining four recommendations.