• Directorate:
• Network Processing and Transportation
• Program Area:
• Network Processing & Transportation
• Responsible Postal Official:
• Start Date:
• 05-22-2013
• Estimated Report Date:
• 09-09-2013

AUDIT OVERVIEW

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) plans to issue a capping report on Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) operations for Tier 1 Network Distribution Centers (NDCs) based on the results of prior audits at four NDCs. This self-initiated audit addresses operational risk.

• Directorate:
• Data Analysis and Performance
• Program Area:
• Data Analysis and Performance
• Responsible Postal Official:
• Start Date:
• 06-10-2013
• Estimated Report Date:

AUDIT OVERVIEW

Surface Visibility provides critical tracking for the Postal Service’s mail volumes, transportation utilization, and overall mail movement efficiency. This information allows Postal Service leadership to make operational/logistical decisions concerning facility and transportation usage.

The Postal Service currently has a services contract with a company to maintain the database for surface visibility data. Although the Postal Service generates the surface visibility data, they have historically relied on the service contractor’s analytic and reporting capabilities to produce reports on surface visibility performance.

The Office of Inspector General will review the management of surface visibility data and the supporting services contract. Our objective is to assess the Postal Service’s management of the surface visibility database.
Questions:

1. Do contracts or database support generally provide access to all of the raw data and supporting documentation as part of the base contract or do they purchase it as an add-on to the contract?

2. Have there been any data access concerns with any data management service contracts?

• Directorate:
• Network Processing and Transportation
• Program Area:
• Network Processing & Transportation
• Responsible Postal Official:
• Start Date:
• 05-06-2013
• Estimated Report Date:

AUDIT OVERVIEW

The U.S. Postal Service has a long history of transporting mail on rail dating back to the early 1800s. However, the Postal Service today mainly uses trucks to transport its surface mail across the country while its competitors, such as FedEx and UPS, have been increasingly using rail to meet their transportation needs. In 2009, the Postal Service re-aligned its former Bulk Mail Centers (BMCs) into Network Distribution Centers (NDCs) with a dedicated transportation network serviced by trucks. Much of the mail that is processed in the NDC network has service standards between 5 and 7 days. We plan to analyze information to determine if the Postal Service could meet service standards and save money by transporting mail by rail between NDCs.

• Directorate:
• Network Processing and Transportation
• Program Area:
• Network Processing & Transportation
• Responsible Postal Official:
• Start Date:
• 05-15-2013
• Estimated Report Date:

AUDIT OVERVIEW

Delayed mail adversely impacts mailers and U.S. Postal Service customers. Missed opportunities could cause some to seek alternatives to the mail. Analysis of delayed mail identified the Hartford P&DC as a facility with high delayed mail volume.

Our objective is to determine if mail at the Hartford P&DC is processed in a timely manner. To meet our objective, we will conduct interviews and perform analysis on mail volumes, work hours and trends. We will also conduct observations at the Hartford P&DC.

The OIG is interested to know if delayed mail has caused you to miss payments. Have you missed out on sales because of late arriving mail pieces in your mailbox? Has delayed mail improved in your area?

• Directorate:
• Network Processing and Transportation
• Program Area:
• Network Processing & Transportation
• Responsible Postal Official:
• Start Date:
• 05-14-2013
• Estimated Report Date:

AUDIT OVERVIEW

Strong customer demand for goods purchased over the Internet has driven growth in the package market in an otherwise declining mail market. This growing package segment provides the Postal Service an opportunity to help counter the reduction in First-Class Mail and the flattening of Standard Mail® volume. Customer expectations for the package business, however, are rising through demands for free shipping and increased tracking and visibility capabilities. As the volume of shipments and customer expectations continue to grow, so does competition between the Postal Service and other leading package delivery providers.

Our objective is to assess the Postal Service’s parcel processing capacity. Specifically:
*Determine package processing efficiency.
*Determine if there is excess capacity in the network to handle an increased volume of parcels.