WASHINGTON — Carriers and owner-operators hired by the U.S. Postal Service to handle the agency’s highway freight have been red-flagged by auditors for safety and security violations, including having unauthorized family members riding along in their trucks.
The audit, conducted from February through September 2023 by the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), was designed to assess the Postal Service’s transportation workplace safety and driver security by looking at eight Processing and Distribution Centers (P&DCs) nationwide.
The OIG focused on both highway contract routes (HCRs) and Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) drivers. HCRs are long-haul routes contracted to private trucking companies to carry mail between designated points.
PVS drivers, in contrast, are Postal Service employees who haul mail among processing facilities, inner-city delivery offices and local businesses within a 50-mile radius.
“We found the Postal Service did not obtain security clearances for contract drivers, contract drivers did not have valid and properly displayed identification badges, and proper forms were not always completed to document badge irregularities,” according to OIG’s audit.