Below is a list of our open audit recommendations. When a report is issued, the Postal Service responds to each recommendation, and if there is agreement, it provides a corrective action plan with a date of planned implementation. We request written confirmation from the Postal Service when those corrective actions are completed and evaluate this information and provide concurrence when the recommendation can be closed.
If the Postal Service disagrees with a recommendation, we work towards agreement by elevating discussions between USPS and OIG management. Any recommendations that the Postal Service does not act on remain open and are reported to Congress until a resolution is achieved.
Establish a common framework with roles and responsibilities for deferred maintenance that applies throughout the organization, standardizing what is considered deferred maintenance and the process for prioritizing and addressing it.
$0
Open
Disagree
2
Prioritize and track all deferred maintenance and associated costs, including capital and maintenance projects, and begin addressing its backlog of maintenance in order of priority.
$0
Open
Disagree
3
Establish procedures, responsibilities, and accountability mechanisms for staff and supervisors to periodically review and validate all data including "estimated cost" within the maintenance system, for completeness and accuracy.
$0
Open
Disagree
4
Ensure that the maintenance system has functionality and reporting capabilities to assist project managers with identifying outstanding maintenance calls and alert supervisors of maintenance calls without periodic updates or resolution.
$0
Open
Agree
5
Establish a policy requiring project managers to provide local management with periodic status updates on reported maintenance issues and document statuses until resolved.
$1,094,134
Open
Disagree
6
Develop a maintenance issue reporting culture through the creation of a communications campaign to raise awareness of prioritizing the reporting of maintenance and safety issues to all employees.
$0
Open
Disagree
7
Improve oversight of its local self-assessment programs by assigning staff to conduct periodic reviews of assessments for facilities under 6,500 square feet and establishing an escalation process to obtain annual assessments from larger facilities for review.
$0
Open
Agree
8
Address all building maintenance, safety, and security issues identified during site visits.
Develop processes and requirements for routinely collecting excess and underutilized space data across its property portfolio and include accountability mechanisms for ensuring this data is collected on a regular basis.
$0
Open
Disagree
2
Develop processes to periodically assess and verify the accuracy of excess and underutilized space data and update in the designated system of record.
$0
Open
Disagree
3
Develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for managing excess and underutilized space, which would include processes for identifying space at properties throughout the network, centralized tracking and reporting, and corrective action plans (such as for renting, disposing, or repurposing).
$0
Open
Disagree
4
Verify the calculation used to determine Potential Usable Excess Workroom Square Footage is correct and accurately incorporates the number of delivery routes in an office.
$0
Closed
Disagree
5
Verify that all rooms and spaces reported in the Real Asset Management Program Out-leasing module are properly coded.
$0
Open
Agree
6
Reconcile property space data across all modules within the property management system to verify consistency and accuracy of the data.
$0
Open
Disagree
7
Take immediate action to comply with the Federal Property Management Reform Act of 2016 reporting requirement related to space available for use by federal agencies.
Conduct a feasibility study of capturing cost savings resulting from the Regional Transfer Hub initiative and, based on the results, implement tracking of costs related to the initiative.
$0
Open
Disagree
2
Implement controls to enforce all required scanning at Regional Transfer Hubs in coordination with the Vice President of Processing Operations.
$0
Closed
Agree
3
Enforce corrective actions for contracted transportation with late departing transportation.
$0
Open
Agree
4
Establish quantifiable key performance indicators (in coordination with Vice President Processing Operations), including acceptable impacts to service and a trailer utilization target, specific to the Regional Transfer Hub initiative.
$0
Open
Disagree
5
Monitor performance of the Regional Transfer Hubs against established goals.
Create job positions where the primary responsibility is to oversee regional coordination of the shipping and handling of day-old poultry between internal and external stakeholders.
$0
Open
Agree
2
Establish recurring meetings throughout peak shipping season of day-old poultry with the applicable internal and external stakeholders to discuss issues and implement immediate corrective action.
$0
Open
Agree
3
Revise the Handling Lives Workbook to include procedures for accepting day-old poultry, including visual aids in accordance with mailing requirements in Publication 52.
$0
Closed
Agree
4
Communicate to staff each year the acceptance procedures for day-old poultry prior to the start of peak shipment season.
$0
Open
Agree
5
Revise the Handling Lives Workbook and reissue annually, before each peak shipping. At a minimum, revisions to the workbook should include: performing a primary sort by transportation mode; proper bed loading; a limit for stacking packages; following first in, first out methods; and unloading day-old poultry timely from trailers.
$0
Open
Agree
6
Establish processes and procedures for periodic on-site review of its air carrier operations to ensure proper loading and securing of day-old poultry shipments.
$0
Closed
Agree
7
Revise Publication 52 to require the mailer to include a "deliver by" date, which is 72-hours after hatching, on all packages of day-old poultry.
$0
Open
Disagree
8
Develop electronic methods to uniquely track shipments of day-old poultry, including shipments that have perished.
$0
Open
Disagree
9
Develop a process specifically for the processing and handling of missent shipments of day-old poultry.
$0
Open
Agree
10
Revise Publication 52 to define when day-old poultry should be disposed of as an injurious item.
$0
Open
Agree
11
Along with the Vice President, Delivery Operations; Vice President, Processing Operations; and Vice President, Logistics, develop and provide training to staff on the correct processes for the disposal of day-old poultry.
Develop procedures to ensure survey responses are properly completed and reviewed in a timely manner and that managers are held accountable for when units are closed without valid justification.
$0
Open
Disagree
2
Develop an automated tool for notifying field staff in real-time when units open late or close early and sending justification requests to local staff.
$0
Open
Disagree
3
Develop system capabilities for recording, analyzing, reporting, and retaining data on units that open late or close early.
$0
Open
Disagree
4
Develop procedures to ensure justification responses are properly completed and reviewed in a timely manner and that managers are held accountable when units open late or close early.
$0
Open
Disagree
5
Augment suspension-related policies to include strategies for periodically and regularly communicating suspension statuses to impacted customers.
$0
Open
Disagree
6
Establish accountability mechanisms, such as timeliness targets, for resolving suspensions in a timely manner and for monitoring performance.
$0
Open
Disagree
7
Develop mechanisms to require Postmasters to properly update the status of suspended units to be displayed publicly on USPS.com.
Develop a mechanism to identify all applicable charges when calculating postage due to incorporate into its automated calculations.
$0
Open
Agree
2
Incorporate large and oversized package charges into postage due calculations for return-to-sender packages.
$21,376,852
Open
Agree
3
Retroactively invoice return addressees for large package charges that should have been paid.
$24,617,947
Open
Disagree
4
Electronically link the payment of postage due to the specific packages for which the payments are based.
$0
Open
Agree
5
Further automate the postage due calculation and collection process for undeliverable packages, using weights and dimensions captured by mail processing equipment.
$0
Open
Agree
6
Assess which delivery units need additional equipment, including scales, and provide it to efficiently process return-to-sender packages.
$0
Open
Disagree
7
Provide updated training and corrected guidance to clerks and staff on the latest policies and procedures for return-to-sender packages.
$0
Closed
Agree
8
Add reminders to the Remote Forwarding System application to prompt clerks to process and weigh packages correctly.
$0
Closed
Agree
9
Institute and enforce a policy requiring clerks and managers to restrict access to return packages that exceed the facility's interior capacity or develop other mitigation strategies.
Develop a short-term strategy for mitigating the impacts of storing E-Transits in holding lots that would include an analysis of related costs (in other words, acquisition, staffing, maintenance, transportation, and so forth) and assessment of other options such as divestment.
$0
Open
Agree
2
Correct inconsistencies in the Fleet Management Information System (FMIS) for E-Transits in holding lots and implement internal controls to periodically assess the accuracy of E-Transit vehicle data in FMIS.
$0
Open
Agree
3
Correct inconsistencies in preventative maintenance inspections and battery maintenance for E-Transits in holding lots and implement internal controls to periodically assess the consistency of these activities.
$0
Open
Agree
4
Correct deficiencies associated with E-Transit deployments and implement internal controls to periodically assess compliance with related deployment procedures.
$0
Open
Agree
5
Develop strategies and controls to ensure local holding lot staff are appropriately using applicable service contracts.
$37,058
Open
Disagree
6
Develop strategies to enhance communication of policies and procedures to E-Transit local holding lot staff, particularly related to the consistency of Fleet Management Information System data, preventative maintenance inspections, battery maintenance, and deployment.
Require the Threat Assessment Team to assess threats identified in Assault Threat Specialty Reports as jacketed cases and document them in the Threat Assessment Case Tracking system.
$0
Open
Disagree
2
Reiterate guidance to the Threat Assessment Team lead on responsibilities for reporting incidents in the Threat Assessment Case Tracking system.
$0
Open
Agree
3
Clarify and reiterate guidance to facility managers on timely reporting incidents of workplace violence to their Threat Assessment Team.
$0
Open
Agree
4
Develop and implement a process to verify outcome memos are timely provided to applicable facility managers and maintained accordingly.
Require annual training for personnel responsible for reporting mail conditions to improve mail condition reporting accuracy.
$0
Open
Agree
2
In coordination with the Vice President, Technology Applications, create a line item for recording Priority Mail Express in the Mail Condition Visualization system.
$0
Closed
Agree
3
In coordination with the Vice President, Technology Applications, update policies and manuals related to condition reporting to include newly established categories and mail conversion rates in the Mail Condition Visualization system and Handbook M-32.
$0
Open
Agree
4
Reinforce inventory controls to ensure scanners are signed out and returned.
$0
Open
Agree
5
Develop and implement periodic reviews of scanner inventory.
$0
Open
Agree
6
Require a documented transportation review that tracks the root cause and planned mitigation tactics for facilities not meeting their transportation goals.
$0
Open
Disagree
7
Reiterate processes to ensure accountability over staff and contractors responsible for safety policies regarding wheel chocks, strapping of loads, and securing and locking mail being transported in trailers and cargo vans.
