In a report issued earlier this month, the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) said the USPS has been inefficient in handling Sunday deliveries for major customer Amazon, leading to over $350,000 in additional operating costs.
“Operational inefficiencies existed during Sunday parcel deliveries in scanning, sorting, vehicle loading, and using the Dynamic Routing Tool (DRT) software in street delivery at 40 of 134 hubs we visited in four districts,” the OIG stated in the report. “These inefficiencies occurred primarily because management did not always enforce policies and procedures and supervision was inconsistent at some hubs.”
As a result, the OIG found, the USPS spent 17,446 more hours from June 15 through July 13, 2014, than its DRT software required to conduct Sunday delivery operations. “By improving efficiency, the Postal Service could reduce operating costs annually by $356,736 for 134 hubs in the districts we visited.”
To address this problem, the OIG recommended that regional USPS vice presidents and district managers throughout the country “eliminate inefficient operational practices, reduce work hours cited and ensure adherence to Postal Service policies and procedures for Sunday parcel delivery service.”
At the end of April 2014, the OIG reported, Sunday deliveries were taking place at 459 USPS hubs in 22 districts in the Pacific, Eastern, Southern, Great Lakes and Northeast areas. More than 2.7 million parcels were delivered on Sundays between Jan. 1 and April 6. The USPS plans to add Sunday delivery service at 786 additional hubs in 24 more districts across the country.
In response, the USPS believes the OIG’s audit on Sunday package delivery is “premature,” according to spokesperson Sarah A. Ninivaggi.
“At the onset of this test (in October 2013), the technology was at its infancy and did not always allow management to route effectively,” Ninivaggi said. “However, the technology supporting this operation continues to evolve, increasing overall efficiencies on a continual basis. This operation is still in test phase and the Postal Service conducts operational tests for the very reason of developing long-term, effective solutions.”
From another quarter, USPS is facing criticism from letter carriers and their unions about the severely increased workload due to the Amazon business, according to Geekwire.
“Everyone works hard, long hours during the holidays,” said USPS spokesperson Sue Brennan in the article. “Having this type of volume increase would be a wonderful problem to have to address.”