The following is a report from USPS Office of Inpector General (OIG) “Timely Processing of Mail at the Boston, MA, Processing and Distribution Center”

This report presents the results of our self-initiated audit on the timely processing of mail at the Boston, MA, Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) in the Greater Boston District in the Northeast Area (Project Number 14XG016NO000). Our objective was to determine whether the Boston P&DC processed mail on time. See Appendix A for additional information about this audit.

The Boston P&DC began consolidating Middlesex Essex P&DC mail in April 2013 using a two-phase approach. Overall, this consolidation resulted in a 57 percent increase in the Boston P&DC’s mail volume. Consolidation of destinating mail from Middlesex Essex began in fiscal year (FY) 2013, Quarter (Q)4 (August 2013) and continued through FY 2014, Q2 (March 2014).

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) found the Boston P&DC did not always process mail on time. The Boston P&DC had about 28 million delayed mailpieces in FY 2014, Q1. This is a 56 percent increase in delayed mail from the same period last year (SPLY). The majority of delayed mail was due to implementation errors associated with the Middlesex Essex P&DC consolidation, which included failure to update the Boston P&DC operating plan, acquire additional material handling equipment, properly schedule employees, enforce proper color coding of mail, and properly supervise mail flow. Consequently, service scores in Boston declined and the percentage of carriers reporting back after 5 p.m. increased. We estimate that $534,141 of U.S. Postal Service revenue is at risk as a result of these errors.

The Boston P&DC ranked high in delayed mail compared to 40 similarly sized facilities. For example, in FY 2014, Q1 the Boston P&DC:

 Had 28.4 million delayed mailpieces and ranked third highest among the 40 similarly sized plants.
 Had 1.4 million delayed First-Class® mailpieces and ranked seventh highest among similarly sized plants.
 Had 26.9 million delayed pieces of Standard Mail and ranked third highest among similarly sized plants.
 Experienced more than a 56 percent increase in overall delayed mail from the SPLY.

We found that a significant volume of delayed mail continued into FY 2014, Q2. We compared delayed mail as a percentage of FHP to similarly sized facilities and found that in FY 2014, Q2, the Boston P&DC had almost three times as much delayed mail as its counterparts (see Table 2).

During our week of observations, we found a large amount of delayed mail at the manual letter case operation (see Figure 1). During our audit, management took corrective action to process this mail.

Staffing and Scheduling
Employees were not always available to process mail at peak times. Specifically, during outgoing operations management did not always staff manual letter cases, causing mail to accumulate and, ultimately, be delayed. Additionally, management did not consistently staff automated machines during peak processing times, which could delay mail (see Figure 4).

Supervision
Insufficient supervision also contributed to mail processing delays. For example, supervisors did not always adjust staffing and sort plans and ensure proper staffing of each operation. Additionally, some supervisors did not promptly assess mail volume and adjust workhours, assignments, and sort plans to ensure the Boston P&DC met customer service commitments. We did not find all the employees to be actively engaged in their work assignments, which led to delayed mail volume.

Supervisors also did not enforce proper mail identification by using the color code system. This routinely led to employees staging mail throughout the building with no indication where it should be transported for final distribution. Also, management filled 14.63 percent of authorized supervisor positions with acting supervisors7 or left them vacant, contributing to poor supervision.

Delayed mail caused more carriers to return after 5 p.m. Specifically, we found:
 Forty percent of Boston carriers were returning late (after 5 p.m.), representing an increase of almost 28 percent over the SPLY.

 Fifty percent of Middlesex carriers were returning late (after 5 p.m.), representing an increase of almost 25 percent over the SPLY.

Recommendations
We recommend the vice president, Network Operations:
1. Expedite existing material handling requests for the Boston Processing and Distribution Center that include a High-Speed Tray Sorter, Robotic Container System, and Tray Take-Away System.

We recommend the vice president, Northeast Area:
2. Update the Boston Processing and Distribution Center’s operating plan to accurately reflect consolidations and to improve the incoming mail arrival profile.

3. Adjust scheduling of employees to accommodate mail volume and allow employees to be available at peak processing times.

4. Train employees and supervisors on proper color coding procedures.
5. Properly train supervisors on expediting mail flow throughout the facility.

 

see full report