WASHINGTON — Lax oversight by the U.S. Postal Service of the trucking companies, brokers, and drivers it contracts could be contributing to accidents and deaths on the nation’s highways, based on the results of a new safety report.
The audit, released on Friday by the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), was requested by Congress last year following a Wall Street Journal investigation into safety violations and fatal crashes involving long-distance carriers that haul mail for the agency.
The Postal Service does not track accidents and fatalities involving its trucking contractors, the OIG audit revealed, and therefore auditors were unable to provide Congress with a complete set of accident data.
