USPS Mobile Delivery Devices “do not perform as expected”, says OIG

USPS Mobile Delivery Devices “do not perform as expected”, says OIG

The Office of Inspector General has reported that the Mobile Delivery Devices (MDDs) currently being deployed by the US Postal Service (USPS) “do not perform as expected”.
In its report on the MDD deployment published last week (8 July), the OIG said that as a result of this under-performance “letter carriers experienced three common functionality issues: screen freezes, laser beam reader freezes, and insufficient battery life”.

The OIG added: “This caused letter carriers to use ineffective or inefficient workarounds. In addition, management needs to improve the training process for delivery personnel3 since they received minimal or no training and were not given training materials.”

The OIG also noted that the USPS Critical Parts Center (CPC) “processes eBuy2 and help desk-requested MDDs and accessories without ensuring the parts actually need to be replaced or are not covered by warranties”  – thereby racking up unnecessary expense.

MDDs are new handheld scanners that allow U.S. Postal Service letter carriers to track package delivery
in real-time. They replace the Intelligent Mail Devices (IMDs) and cellular phones that letter carriers currently use to track package delivery in “near real-time”.

MDDs are a step-u from IMDs: they support multiple requirements (such as Sunday delivery and dynamic routing), report scan data faster, and support future software enhancements.

According to the OIG report: “Between September and December 2014, the Postal Service deployed 75,386 MDDs to letter carriers at a cost of $149 million. It began Phase 2 deployment of 188,000 MDDs in February 2015. Management plans to complete Phase 2 deployment for $349 million in September 2015, for a total deployment of 263,386 MDDs.”

The OIG has recommended that USPS management “establish controls to ensure all MDD functionalities are operating, evaluate current MDD training, and establish controls for processing MDD eBuy2 and help desk requests to ensure there is an actual need for replacement and equipment is not under warranty”.

Click here to see a copy of the USPS OIG report.

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