Upcoming Audit Work

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.

The Postal Service developed Fiscal Year 2024 peak season preparedness initiatives to build upon the successes it had during prior peak seasons. The Postal Service’s initiatives spanned multiple functions, including processing and distribution, logistics, retail, and delivery operations. Our objective is to evaluate the Postal Service’s performance during the fiscal year (FY) 2024 peak mailing season and the implementation of its peak mailing season preparedness plan.

The Postal Service is investing $9.6 billion to install modern charging infrastructure at hundreds of facilities; electrify delivery vehicles; and modernize mail delivery by creating an efficient network to reach its 163 million delivery locations across the country and strengthen the sustainability of its critical public service. As $3 billion of this investment stems from congressional funding, it is essential for the Postal Service to capture cost-savings. Our objective is to determine if the Postal Service is participating in incentive programs related to its electric vehicles and requisite charging infrastructure. If not, identify opportunities for participation and associated cost savings.

As part of its 10-year Delivering for America plan, the Postal Service is modernizing its fleet with electric delivery vehicles and charging stations at hundreds of facilities. We are monitoring the Postal Service’s construction of charging stations, which is supported by congressional funding. Our auditors will evaluate the Postal Service’s site design and construction timelines related to its charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

One of the key objectives of Delivering for America, 10-year plan, is to shift from air to surface transportation. In July 2023 the Postal Service retired three package shipping services (Retail Ground, Parcel Select Ground, and First-Class Package) and introduced one new package shipping service, Ground Advantage. The current three package shipping services are Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, and Ground Advantage. Our objective is to evaluate the service performance and effectiveness of package shipping services. The scope of our audit is packages shipped July 2023 - March 2024 compared to the three retired services for the same period last year.