Serving America: Retail Unit Accessibility

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Date Issued

Monday, September 22, 2025

Submitting OIG

U.S. Postal Service OIG

Agencies Reviewed/Investigated

U.S. Postal Service

Report Number

25-030-R25

Report Description

Access to retail services is an important part of the Postal Service’s universal service obligation. The Postal Service relies on a network of over 31,000 facilities (“units”) where customers can conduct various retail transactions, and this network hosted over 655 million visits in fiscal year 2024. It is imperative for retail units to be accessible to customers by being open during scheduled hours and not closed for prolonged periods of time (such as suspensions).

Report Type

Audit

Agency Wide

Yes

Number of Recommendations

Questioned Costs

Funds for Better Use

Report updated under NDAA 5274

Open Recommendations

This report has 7 open recommendations.

Recommendation Number	Significant Recommendation	Recommended Questioned Costs	Recommended Funds for Better Use
1	Yes	$0	$0
Develop procedures to ensure survey responses are properly completed and reviewed in a timely manner and that managers are held accountable for when units are closed without valid justification.
2	Yes	$0	$0
Develop an automated tool for notifying field staff in real-time when units open late or close early and sending justification requests to local staff.
3	Yes	$0	$0
Develop system capabilities for recording, analyzing, reporting, and retaining data on units that open late or close early.
4	Yes	$0	$0
Develop procedures to ensure justification responses are properly completed and reviewed in a timely manner and that managers are held accountable when units open late or close early.
5	Yes	$0	$0
Augment suspension-related policies to include strategies for periodically and regularly communicating suspension statuses to impacted customers.
6	Yes	$0	$0
Establish accountability mechanisms, such as timeliness targets, for resolving suspensions in a timely manner and for monitoring performance.
7	Yes	$0	$0
Develop mechanisms to require Postmasters to properly update the status of suspended units to be displayed publicly on USPS.com.