Upcoming Audit Work

The U.S. Postal Service’s mission is to provide the nation with trusted, safe, and secure mail services. Unfortunately, mail theft occurs in various ways. Criminals use stolen universal keys—called arrow keys—to access collection boxes, outdoor parcel lockers, cluster box units, and apartment panels. Mail theft can also occur by individuals fishing or breaking into collection boxes, residential mailbox break-ins, package theft, and carrier robberies. It is imperative for the Postal Service to address mail theft issues to protect the Postal Service and retain the public’s trust. Our objective is to assess the Postal Service’s actions taken to mitigate and respond to mail theft in San Francisco, CA.

The U.S. Postal Service’s mission is to provide the nation with trusted, secure mail services. Unfortunately, mail theft occurs in various ways. Criminals use stolen universal keys—called arrow keys—to access collection boxes, cluster box units, and apartment panels. Mail theft can also occur by individuals fishing or breaking into collection boxes, residential mailbox break-ins, and carrier robberies. It is imperative for the Postal Service to address mail theft issues to protect mail services and retain the public’s trust. Our objective is to assess the U.S. Postal Service’s actions to mitigate and respond to mail theft in Chicago, IL.

Under its Delivering for America plan, the Postal Service committed to modernizing equipment to improve efficiency, increase mail security, and ensure carrier safety. The Mobile Delivery Device-Technology Refresh (MDD-TR) is a hand-held scanner used by carriers that went through modernization efforts - including the addition of an electronic lock function which requires dual authentication to access a mail receptacle - to achieve Postal Service’s above objectives. Our audit will assess the functional efficiency of the MDD-TR and the impact on physical security of collection boxes through electronic lock technology and public awareness efforts.

The U.S. Postal Service’s mission is to provide the nation with trusted, safe, and secure mail services. As the Postal Service provides mail service to almost 153 million customers six days a week as part of its universal service obligation, mail can be subject to theft to include internal theft. Internal mail theft includes the theft, destruction, or delay of mail and packages by postal employees. Our objective is to assess the U.S. Postal Service’s efforts to prevent and detect internal mail theft in mail processing facilities.

Most of the Postal Service’s current fleet of delivery vehicles are outdated, expensive to maintain, and lack certain modern safety and operational features such as airbags. As part of its Delivering for America 10-year plan, the Postal Service aims to modernize its aging fleet with both Next Generation Delivery Vehicles and Commercial-Off-the-Shelf vehicles, which include battery-electric and internal combustion engine vehicles. This audit will assess the status of the Postal Service’s acquisition of new delivery vehicles.