US Postal Service Office Employees Expense $600,000 in Excess Travel Costs

US Postal Service Office Employees Expense $600,000 in Excess Travel Costs

February 11, 2011

govexec.com - U.S. Postal Service employees are wasting government money on expensive hotel rooms and personal travel, according to an agency watchdog.

In a Feb. 9 report, the USPS inspector general found that 173 postal employees used their government travel cards to pay for personal items and cash advances unrelated to official travel, totaling $349,317 in inappropriate spending. Three employees bought airline tickets for family and friends, including trips to Europe, while another purchased a computer and made mortgage payments with the card. One worker used his card on more than 50 occasions for adult entertainment.

Postal Service employees also violated a number of federal and USPS travel policies, the IG said. From October 2008 to September 2010, postal workers spent more than $600,000 in excess of established government lodging rates, including nearly $90,000 above the allowed rates for the National Postal Forums in 2009 and 2010. Employees also paid for co-workers' lodging, submitted duplicate claims, received reimbursement for future trips and expensed travel that did not fall 50 miles outside their home office.

In addition, the report found the Postal Service failed to cancel 2,491 cards issued to former employees, including 53 deceased workers, resulting in $37 million in open credit. Two employees continued to make purchases after leaving the agency. The IG recommended that management develop better procedures for verifying travel cards are canceled for employees who no longer work for the Postal Service.

The IG found that the Postal Service has not tracked employee compliance with travel policies, and should develop procedures to monitor transactions for abuse. USPS' technology systems also do not flag questionable expense claims, and the agency should include tools in its new electronic travel system to identify these transactions. According to management's comments on the report, a new system is scheduled to deploy in 2013.

The Postal Service's travel costs declined 17 percent from fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2010, but additional opportunities exist for savings, the IG said.