Upcoming Audit Work

As part of its Delivering for America plan to achieve service and financial stability, the Postal Service changed service standards to increase mail transported by surface transportation. Specifically, First-Class Mail (FCM) service standards were extended by an additional one-to-two-days, and Marketing Mail standards were also shortened to two days beyond the applicable FCM standard.

Following these changes, nearly all FCM and Marketing Mail moved via surface transportation. However, in fiscal year 2025, air transportation for these mail classes began to rise. This project will evaluate the effectiveness of market dominant mail (FCM and Marketing Mail) transported by the air network.

The U.S. Postal Service is responsible for processing, transporting, and delivering the nation’s Election and Political Mail. Election Mail is any mailpiece that an authorized election official creates for voters participating in the election process and includes ballots and voter registration materials. Political Mail is any mailpiece created by a registered political candidate, a campaign committee, or a committee of a political party for political campaign purposes. The U.S. Postal Service has specific policies and procedures on the proper acceptance, processing, delivery, and recording of Election and Political Mail. Our objective is to evaluate the U.S. Postal Service’s readiness for timely processing and delivery of Election and Political Mail for the 2026 mid-term election. 

In September 2024, the Postal Service published an update to its strategic Delivering for America (DFA) plan. The updated DFA plan provides a roadmap for continued transformation of the Postal Service into a financially sustainable, high-performing organization. The plan identifies several contracted operations, including Terminal Handling Service (THS), Highway Contract Routes (HCR), and Surface Transfer Centers (STC), that were in the process of being insourced as a cost-reduction and efficiency strategy. This audit’s objective is to assess the effectiveness and impact of insourcing operations under the DFA plan.
 

In 2017, the Postal Service launched the Automated Package Verification (APV) system to detect underpaid postage automatically for PC Postage customers. APV checks shippers' entries against actual weights and dimensions, charging additional postage or refunding overpayments. In 2022, the Postal Service integrated APV into the USPS Ship platform. When discrepancies are found, the Postal Service invoices for additional postage or issues refunds. Our objective is to evaluate effectiveness of the Postal Service’s automated solutions to verify package attributes and charges. Contact us if you have any information or input that might be beneficial to the auditors on this topic.  

As part of their Delivering for America plan, the Postal Service is investing $40 billion for network modernization, based around Regional Processing and Distribution Centers (RPDCs), Local Processing Centers (LPCs), and Sorting and Distribution Centers (SDCs). Overall, the Postal Service will establish 60 RPDCs to consolidate mail processing operations and create fewer points in the processing and transportation networks. Each RPDC processes mail and packages originating in its service area and has one or more LPCs associated with it. This audit will focus on the network transformation and consolidation of operations at Indianapolis, IN RPDC.