Federal Reports

The mixed delivery and collection vehicle fleet primarily supports Postal Service operations such as mail collection, mixed package delivery routes, and relay drop-offs for city carriers. However, the existing fleet of vehicles had aged beyond its planned life, requiring frequent repairs. To address these issues, the Postal Service made an investment to replace 6,533 vehicles and completed their deployment in December 2017. Our objective was to determine whether the Postal Service’s mixed delivery and collection vehicles acquisition achieved the performance metrics, expected costs, and savings.

As part of our annual audit plan, we audited costs billed to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by CLEAResult East Operating, LLC (CR) for providing services to assist TVA in the Valley-wide implementation of its energy efficiency programs under Contract Nos. 5586 and 6632. Our audit included approximately $45.9 million in costs paid by TVA between April 1, 2014, and March 31, 2016. Our audit objective was to determine if the costs billed to TVA were in compliance with the terms and conditions of Contract Nos. 5586 and 6632.In summary, we determined CR overbilled TVA $191,867, including (1) $158,812 in subcontractor costs, (2) $2,766 in unsupported labor costs, (3) $27,750 for ineligible sales tax costs, and (4) $2,539 in travel costs. In addition, we noted CR billed TVA approximately $1.15 million for holiday and paid time off (PTO) hours under Contract No. 5586 in which TVA did not (1) obtain any assurance CR's PTO costs were not also included in the hourly billing rates or (2) limit the amount of PTO CR could bill under the contract.(Summary Only)

This analytics evaluation of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) was conducted by Elder Research on behalf of the EEOC Office of Inspector General (EEOC OIG).1) Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the EEOC’s data analytics culture, strategy, tactics, and capabilities (people, processes, technologies, financial resources, etc.).2) Assess EEOC’s strategies for ensuring the validity and accuracy of critical databases.3) Identify improvements, opportunities, and best practices regarding EEOC’s data analysis and predictive analytics activities.EEOC should be encouraged by the opportunity that lies ahead: effective implementation of the recommendations contained within this report hold the potential to unlock substantial value and significantly improve the EEOC’s ability to accomplish its core mission. This report aims to provide a practical roadmap for the agency to progressively move towards a well-functioning analytics program that empowers individuals to more efficiently and effectively accomplish tasks and make decisions.

Two previous studies by the OIG pointed to physical advertising’s strength in leaving a lasting impression and its ability to make an emotional connection with consumers. This time, we extended our research to examine how physical advertising compares with digital advertising for branding purposes. Partnering with the Center for Neural Decision Making at Temple University, we found that physical ads outperformed digital ads in several brand marketing measures, such as brand name recall and brand association. Altogether, our findings demonstrate the power of physical ads for many brand advertising objectives and can help the Postal Service guide advertisers in designing mailpieces that support their brand.

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