Upcoming Audit Work

In 2022, the Postal Service announced it will convert select facilities into Sorting and Delivery Centers (S&DCs) in support of its Delivering for America plan. According to the Postal Service, the goal of S&DCs is to reduce transportation and mail handling costs, as well as provide customers with additional services; and allow for easier standardization and management of operations while improving building and operating conditions for employees.

The OIG will evaluate whether the Postal Service established and met operational goals for the implementation of S&DCs. Specifically, we will focus on S&DCs that began operations in or prior to September 2023.
 

Under Delivering for America, the Postal Service is targeting key markets where they can aggregate delivery units into fewer, larger, centrally located Sorting and Delivery Centers (S&DCs), to provide faster and more reliable mail and package delivery over a greater geographic area. The Postal Service plans to deploy over 400 new S&DCs in the next few years, with 21 conversions being implemented in February 2024. The objective of this audit is to evaluate service performance before and after implementation of the new Everett, WA S&DC – which will occur as part of the February 2024 conversions.

Under Delivering for America, the Postal Service is targeting key markets where they can aggregate delivery units into fewer, larger, centrally located Sorting and Delivery Centers (S&DCs), to provide faster and more reliable mail and package delivery over a greater geographic area. The Postal Service plans to deploy over 400 new S&DCs in the next few years, with 18 conversions being implemented in January and February 2024. The objective of this audit is to evaluate service performance before and after implementation of the new Binghamton, NY S&DC – which will occur as part of the February 2024 conversions.

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.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), enacted in August 2022, appropriated $3 billion to the US Postal Service to assist with its fleet modernization. The act provides $1.29 billion in funding for the procurement of zero-emission delivery vehicles (electric vehicles) and $1.71 billion in funding for the purchase, design, and installation of the necessary infrastructure at Postal Service facilities. The Postal Service received the funds on September 21, 2022. Our objective is to assess invoice and payment processes for the Inflation Reduction Act funds.