Background
In October 2023, the U.S. Postal Service deployed a major change to operations when it began piloting its Local Transportation Optimization (LTO) initiative. The initiative was designed to reduce the number of transportation trips to and from select post offices and increase the amount of mail transported on each trip. In addition, mail collected at impacted post offices remained there until the next day, delaying its entry into sorting operations. On January 8, 2024, the LTO initiative was implemented at 389 post offices within the Wisconsin region.
What We Did
Our objective was to determine the impacts associated with the Postal Service’s LTO initiative in the Wisconsin region. We analyzed service performance before and after LTO implementation, and Wisconsin region transportation costs. We also judgmentally selected and conducted observations and interviews at 25 impacted post offices and four processing facilities in October 2024.
What We Found
Consistent with our broader report, LTO implementation in the Wisconsin region resulted in a decrease in service, rural communities were more significantly impacted, and customers were not notified of potential impacts. We also found that Postal Service staff did not complete departure scans (scans to help customers track packages) and collection box mail was not picked up in coordination with the new LTO pickup times (i.e., elimination of afternoon transportation trips). Postal Service management attributed these issues to LTO being a pilot program and a lack of management oversight and training. Finally, the Postal Service did not effectively track cost savings specific to the LTO initiative in the Wisconsin region.
Recommendations and Management’s Comments
We made six recommendations to address Postal Service signage and scanning. Postal Service management agreed with four recommendations and disagreed with two. Management’s comments and our evaluation are at the end of each finding and recommendation. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) considers management’s comments responsive to recommendations 1, 2, and 4, as corrective actions should resolve the issues identified in the report. Management’s responses to recommendations 3, 5, and 6 will not resolve the issues identified, so we will work with management through the formal audit resolution process on these recommendations.