U.S. Postal Service

City governments around the country are taking on “smart city” initiatives that use big data technology to gather information and improve life for their residents. It is often difficult for cities to deploy this technology in enough locations to collect actionable data. The Postal Service, because...

More Americans like the concept of drone delivery than dislike it, but a large number have yet to decide. Drone malfunction is the public's primary concern — far more than fears about intentional misuse. Exposure to information about drone delivery correlates with greater interest in the idea. The...

The Board of Governors provides the Postal Service with strategic direction, similar to a corporate board of directors. As of October 2016, only one of the nine governor positions was filled. In December 2016, there will be no remaining governors, unless more are confirmed. This unprecedented...

The information security landscape is constantly changing and, as such, it is critical that the Postal Service maintain information security policies that protect its critical applications and infrastructure. With an information security framework based on industry best practices in place, the...

Recently stakeholders have expressed an interest in understanding how other major posts’ prices are regulated and how posts manage the relationship between price regulation, profitability, and service. The OIG worked with WIK-Consult to provide research on how postal prices are regulated in five...

The OIG teamed with Temple University to examine the neurological response to sequenced ads. Physical ads, shown twice, led to better memory and higher subjective value than any other tested sequence. Single-media advertising sequences (physical-physical and digital-digital) had better results in...

The OIG worked with an expert in postal costing and economics to analyze product cost changes in four traditional USPS products: First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals, and Package Services. The analysis compares costs from fiscal year (FY) 2006 to FY 2015. Four external factors drove product...

Extraterritorial Offices of Exchange (ETOEs) are businesses operated by – or in connection with – foreign postal operators. ETOEs perform a wide range of postal functions that can vary by country, but generally include consolidating, documenting, and transporting outbound international mail. Since...

While continuing to fall, the overall rate of volume decline for letter mail has slowed substantially in recent years. Business-to-consumer mail like First-Class Mail Presort and Marketing Mail represents a growing portion of total mail volume – over 78 percent in 2015. There is substantial...

The OIG identifies eight innovation opportunities for the parcel box, providing use cases and an explanation of how the Postal Service has used the innovation in the past. The U.S. Postal Service could provide incentives to encourage shippers to try parcel innovations. These incentives could also...