Is Thera A Practive Test For A City Carrier Assistantwith The Untied States Postal Service

Objective

The Urban center Carrier Price System (CCCS) is a statistical study of mail delivered on city carrier routes. For each selected route, a data drove technician selects a sample of mail to be delivered on the scheduled test appointment. The technician records the mail service grade, product type, and other characteristics of each manually sampled mailpiece directly into a portable microcomputer using the Computerized On-Site Information Entry System (CODES) data collection software. The Post conducted ix,257 and 8,694 CCCS tests in fiscal years (FY) 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Our objective was to assess the reliability of CCCS data and evaluate CCCS sampling methodologies to identify opportunities for improved efficiencies.

Findings

While technicians followed most CCCS sampling policies and procedures, there are opportunities to improve the consistency of data drove activities and enhance the reliability of CCCS data. During our observations of seven CCCS tests, we found that technicians did not ever follow policies that indicated numeric intervals for mail service selection and/or did not confirm the delivery condition of parcels and mail that needed a signature.

These problems occurred due to:

• Technicians did not discover the random start number generated past CODES to place the commencement sampled mailpiece. In addition, a software issue caused CODES to improperly change the random commencement number during some tests.

• The absence of system controls to discourage the use of choice intervals greater than one for parcels.

• Technicians' lack of sensation of the importance of receiving carrier confirmation of the delivery condition for each sampled parcel and mailpiece that needed a signature.

Management developed sampling procedures to ensure information is collected in a style that does non introduce error or bias. Technicians must follow these procedures to ensure that data collection is consistent regardless of who performs the tests. Improper or inconsistent sampling poses a data integrity risk and may non result in reliable data for attributing costs to mail products and services.

We also found there are opportunities for the Postal Service to provide delivery personnel with more comprehensive guidance to ensure they fully empathize how to properly gather and document data on mail coming from the customer to the delivery unit (collection mail) for CCCS test routes. Two of the seven evening supervisors who gathered drove post information for the CCCS tests we observed did not take a full understanding of how to correctly gather and/or tape information for the test route. This was because the evening supervisors had niggling to no prior experience gathering this information and/or felt that the technician did not provide clear, detailed instructions for completing this pace of the CCCS sampling process.

Without articulate and comprehensive instructions on how delivery personnel should complete the required form, supervisors may not always complete the form accurately. This could negatively impact the reliability of percentages used to aspect collection postal service costs to post products and services.

There are also opportunities for the Mail to enhance CCCS sampling efficiencies past leveraging real-time census information. In the FY 2020 Annual Compliance Report, the Post reported that it used scan data from the Product Tracking and Reporting (PTR) organization as replacement sample information for 39 CCCS-Special Purpose Route tests cancelled in FY 2020, Quarter 3, due to the COVID-nineteen pandemic. Although the approved CCCS-Special Purpose Route sampling methodology did not include the use of PTR scan data, management believed information technology was necessary to leverage this data on an emergency basis to ensure statistically reliable sample data and mitigate the pandemic's touch on in-person CCCS testing.

Management stated they believe there is an opportunity to apply PTR scan information more heavily in CCCS-Special Purpose Route sampling beyond FY 2020. However, to practise this, they must assess some operational challenges and propose a methodology modify to the PRC for approving.

If proposed and approved, expanding the use of PTR data in CCCS-Special Purpose Route sampling would cut costs associated with manual sampling and meliorate sampling capabilities. Since management is currently assessing the operational challenges prior to proposing a methodology modify to the China, we are not making a recommendation on this matter at this time.

Recommendations

We recommended management:

• Change the CODES software to alert technicians of the correct random get-go number to use throughout the test and correct the software issue that causes the random offset number to change.

• Crave technicians to enter a justification when selecting a selection interval greater than one for package sampling.

• Reiterate to technicians the importance of communicating with the metropolis carrier to confirm the delivery status of each sampled parcel and whether the metropolis carrier plans to deliver all parcels and accountable mail on the examination date. In add-on, evaluate whether delivery scan information can exist used to determine if any sampled parcels should be excluded from the test data.

• Develop online training and/or instructional materials that provide comprehensive guidance on how to properly get together and document collection mail information. In addition, consider developing a web-based course with guided prompts and instructions to replace manual documentation.

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Is Thera A Practive Test For A City Carrier Assistantwith The Untied States Postal Service,

Source: https://www.uspsoig.gov/document/city-carrier-cost-system-0

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