Upcoming Audit Work

The U.S. Postal Service contracts with supplier-operated highway contract routes to transport mail and equipment between plants, post offices, or other designated points that receive or dispatch mail. Our objective is to assess the Postal Service’s effectiveness in managing trailer utilization. The scope of this project is a nationwide review of trailer utilization between Postal Service facilities during fiscal years 2020 to 2022.

Flats are a type of mail that includes magazines, catalogs, and similar mailpieces. They are larger than letter mail and generally cost more for the Postal Service to process and deliver. Currently, not all flats generate enough revenue to cover their costs which can creates a net loss for the Postal Service. Our objective is to review the progress of the Postal Service's cost reduction initiatives that impact Flats products. Our scope is all Postal Service cost reduction initiatives that impact flats products from FY 2017 to FY 2021. We plan to release our final report in May 2023.

The Postal Service owns over 8,400 and leases over 23,000 properties ranging in size from 273 square feet to 32 acres. This includes retail facilities in communities of all income levels across the nation. As part of the 10-year Delivering for America plan, the Postal Service plans to invest in these facilities as well as refresh the customer lobbies. 
Our objectives are to (1) examine the distribution of resources for maintenance and repairs at retail facilities in lower and higher-income communities and (2) assess the impact of the Delivering for America plan on these communities. Congress requested that we perform this audit and include an analysis of the ratio of retail facilities to population in high-income versus low-income communities.

In February 2021, the Postal Service awarded a 10-year contract to Oshkosh Defense to manufacture the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV). To evaluate the environmental impacts of the NGDV purchase versus alternatives, the Postal Service prepared an Environmental Impact Statement, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. This audit’s objectives are to 1) determine if the Postal Service’s acquisition process and Environmental Impact Statement for the NGDV complied with the NEPA, and 2) assess the reliability and reasonableness of the Environmental Impact Statement and supporting analysis.