Strictly following regulations and cutting nearly 120,000 work hours at a single United States Postal Service distribution center could save taxpayers an estimated $5.6 million annually.
That’s the estimate of USPS inspector general auditors after they reviewed the Postal Service’s Chicago network distribution center. The excessive work hours resulted from officials not properly staffing operations based on mail volume and available equipment and technology improvements either being broken or not installed. These corrections alone could save an estimated $4.3 million annually.
“Part of these excess work hours could be the result of many factors, such as overtime hours that could be reduced or eliminated through better scheduling of employees,” said IG spokeswoman Agapi Doulaveris. “These work hour reductions will not result in layoffs, firings or forcing full-time employees to become part-time,” Doulaveris said.
The improper staffing led to inefficient mail handling. For example, from about June 2013 to July 2014, Chicago manually moved an average of less than 100 pieces of mail per hour, while the average speed of similar distribution centers elsewhere in the USPS was 157. Likewise, using mechanical processing, the center moved an average of 109 pieces of mail less than the average of comparable centers.
Also, an estimated annual $1.3 million could be saved in transportation costs by adhering to guidelines and by combining or eliminating low-volume round trips.
If the mail crates were filled to capacity, the Postal Service could eliminate two daily round trips to Pittsburgh, and eliminate another to Des Moines, Iowa, saving more than 867,000 miles per year.
The report also identified safety concerns, such as employees inadequately securing mail containers in trailer loads.
“This increases the risk the load will shift during transport, potentially injuring employees and contractors, damaging mail and endangering the general public in the event that contents spill onto roadways,” the report said.
The Chicago center’s manager agreed with the inspector general’s recommendations, but said “there were some differences of opinion,” according to the report.
The USPS inspector general has audited four other distribution centers since 2012 and identified almost $15 million of potential savings in Atlanta and 200,000 expendable work hours in Los Angeles.
