These collection boxes were in this status from as low as an average of 223 days to a high of 817 days. As of March 31, 2017, 3,221 collection boxes were in an out-of-service status greater than seven days for the five Postal Service areas. We reviewed out-of-service collection boxes in previous audit projects for the Eastern and Capital Metro areas.

Our objective was to assess the Postal Service’s processes for managing out-of-service mail collection boxes in the Great Lakes, Northeast, Pacific, Southern, and Western Areas. While there is no policy governing the use of the out-of-service status, according to Postal Service Headquarters, collection boxes placed in out-of-service status should be for a temporary time period. The Postal Service allows collection boxes to be placed in an out-of-service status temporarily if they are damaged and awaiting repair, removed for a parade, or cannot be collected due to unusual circumstances. If a collection box is temporarily unable to be collected from, a local request is made to the CPMS district administrator for the box to be placed into an out-of-service status in the system. The CPMS is a major source of information for management review and analysis of trends affecting collection boxes. Postal Service policy requires approval by the Area and public notification in order to permanently remove a collection box.Įach district is required to enter all collection boxes in the Collection Point Management System (CPMS), a database that includes the details of collection points such as the addresses, location types (e.g., Business, Residential, Post Office Lobby), and the days and times the collection point is accessed. Postal Service has been removing underused boxes, with about 14,000 boxes removed over the past five years. Nationwide, there were about 153,000 collection boxes at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2016 however, the U.S.

Mail collection boxes, introduced in 1858, are used primarily to collect mail from customers.

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