USPS Office of Inspector General

A quarter of a century. Twenty-five years. It’s a long time, no matter how you say it. And that’s how long it’s been since we were created. That’s right, on September 30, 1996, President Clinton signed legislation that established us — the U. S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General — as an independent entity reporting directly to the Postal Service Governors. Prior to this, postal oversight was done by the Postal Inspection Service, which reported to the Postmaster General.

In a world increasingly driven by digitized information, the ability to harness data for business objectives becomes almost a requirement to keep operations moving efficiently. That’s a big reason why the U.S. Postal Service started deploying the Informed Visibility (IV) system six years ago. By centralizing information from numerous USPS data systems and a variety of mail processing equipment, IV provides Postal Service management with near-real-time visibility into the movement of mail through the postal network.

Sometimes our auditors look at specific incidents or facilities. Other times, especially when concerns are raised, we examine broader, more systemic issues. So, what did we do when more than 70 members of Congress asked us to look into the persistent declines in on-time mail delivery in 17 postal districts? We opened one heck of an audit.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the Postal Service making changes and “slowing down the mail,” using terms like service standards and service targets. Don’t understand what any of this means? Don’t worry, you are not alone. Shedding some light on this subject is the topic of our recently released report, A Primer on Service Standards.  

It’s hard to imagine a single part of our daily lives that hasn’t been changed by the seemingly unrelenting advances in technology. At the same time, it’s vitally important that businesses strive to keep up with the latest and most promising innovations to remain competitive and meet the demands of their customers. The U.S. Postal Service is no different.