Stacks of boxes holding mail are seen at a U.S. Post Office sorting center. An audit report found problems at four postal facilities in Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
An audit of postal facilities in Center Point, Birmingham, Northport and Tuscaloosa found operational problems that the report said was hampering the quality of service in those locations.
The audits , conducted by the United States Post Office’s Office of the Inspector General, found issues related to delayed mail at all four of the sites, including problems with scanning of packages, carriers and the condition of the properties. The Birmingham facility had difficulty with clearance times, outbound trips, scan compliance, security and other issues, the report said.
Debra Jean Fetterly, a spokeswoman for the Postal Service in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, referred to the appendices in the audits but declined further comment.
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A message was left with the postal workers union representing Alabama on Thursday.
The audits found different reasons for the deficiencies at each location. According to the report, an audit of the postal branch in Center Point found delays in delivering almost 1,100 pieces of mail on the morning of July 9.
“In addition, management did not report this mail as undelivered in the Delivery Condition Visualization (DCV) system,” the audit report stated.
This system describes how mail is getting processed at postal facilities in real time.
The packages were delayed because “management had not fully implemented and enforced the Postal Service red line process — a standardized clearance process, including the proper disposition of mail types, for carriers returning to the office upon completion of delivery assignments,” the report said. “This enabled carriers to take undelivered mail they brought back from street duties to their cases.”
The branch located in Northport, Alabama was faced with a similar problem, according to the audit report. It found that employees had still to deliver roughly 400 pieces of mail on the same morning.
The audits did not state what time in the morning the packages were at the facility and when they should have been out for delivery.
“Management did not verify that all mail was cleared from the unit because of a lack of management oversight,” the audit report stated. “Specifically, the postmaster stated she arrived at the Northport Post Office in April 2023, and since July 2023, she has been in and out due to medical leave.”
The audits also cited problems with the condition of the property in Northport. The audit report indicated that two fire extinguishers were missing their annual inspections while another two were missing their monthly inspections. At the Tuscaloosa branch, 10 fire extinguishers were either missing or monthly.
The processing and distribution center in Birmingham also had issues with delayed mail, according to the report.
“Some of the delayed letters in the manual operation unit had been there since July 5, 2024,” the report stated, referring to a visit from inspectors on July 9. “In total, management reported 42,255 delayed letters, flats, and packages in the Mail Condition Visualization (MCV) system during our visit. However, management did not always accurately report this mail in the MCV system.”
The MCV is a module that provides people with information regarding the condition and location of mail and packages in processing facilities.
The audit cited the volume of packages stored at the site as a reason for the delay.
“The delayed letters we identified were due to the manual letter unit receiving large amounts of machinable mail that could have been processed on automated equipment,” the audit report stated. “Until the beginning of June 2024, the manual letter operations unit did not have a gatekeeper assigned to ensure only non-machinable mail entered the unit.”
The audits provided managers at the various facilities with recommendations to address the issue. Included in the reports are appendices for how management at the sites will try and correct the problem.
With respect to the delays in delivering mail at the Center Point branch, managers acknowledged the error and will resolve the issue with additional training, according to a response that managers of the facility filed in the appendix.
“Management will conduct a service talk on proper handling and recording of delayed mail in DCV,” stated June Martindale in response to the audit report, the district manager who oversees Center Point.
A similar intervention was proposed at the postal service branch in Northport, along with additional processes related to records management.
“Access to Delivery Condition Visualization (DCV) system has been approved for the PM supervisor identified as not having access.”
The appendix also stated that “Reviews will be conducted to monitor for compliance.”
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