The Postal Service could make better use of a modeling tool to determine optimal staffing levels at mail processing facilities, an IG report has said.
The USPS uses a tool called the Function 1 Scheduler at 265 processing facilities that takes into account mail volume, the number and type of mail processing machines, transportation schedules, and productivity. However, a review found that only nine facilities matched the scheduler results; 87 were within 5 percent plus or minus; 109 were at least 5 percent over, with 17 of them 20 percent or more over; and 60 at least 5 percent below, with 5 of them 20 percent or more below.
It noted that the USPS does not require facilities to match actual staff levels to the scheduler results but rather that the scheduler is only to be used in assisting in that decision. That has resulted in “an increased risk of incurring additional overtime and lower productivity. In FY 2017, facilities with complements greater than the F1 Scheduler results had 15.7 percent lower productivity, while facilities with complements under F1 Scheduler results incurred about 18 percent more overtime.”
Further, when the scheduler and budget process are not combined, “budgeted workhours will not align with facility staff levels and the Postal Service will not realize savings from staff realignment. We found that the budgeted workhours for FY 2018 exceeded F1 Scheduler results by more than 10.2 million workhours, or about 6 percent, which resulted in about $420 million in labor costs.”
It recommended that postal management establish nationwide criterial for using the scheduler’s results, include them in the annual budget process, and implement and document a verification, validation, and accreditation process for the scheduler.
