U.S. Postal Service Emergency Suspension Process

District managers may suspend the operations of any post office, classified station, or branch under its jurisdiction for the following reasons: a natural disaster; termination of a lease or rental agreement; lack of qualified personnel to operate the office; irreparable damage when no suitable alternate quarters are available in the community; severe damage to, or destruction of an office; challenge to the sanctity of the mail; and lack of adequate measures to safeguard the office or its revenue. Our objective was to assess whether emergency suspensions of Postal Service facilities in the Eastern Area are executed in compliance with policies and procedures, including actions taken to reopen or discontinue facilities.