Postal Service contract drivers faulted for English-language violations

A significant number of independent contractors who deliver and collect mail for the U. S. Postal Service lack security clearances, engage in unsafe driving practices or don’t possess required English skills, threatening mail integrity, public safety, finances and the brand’s reputation, according to an audit by the organization’s inspector general.

The Postal Service contracts with individuals or companies, who supply their own vehicles, to provide mail service for homes and businesses, primarily in rural and underserved areas. In fiscal year 2025, the Postal Service had more than 8,273 active delivery service contracts, which cost about $593 million.

The outsourcing program was established as a cost-effective way to extend the Postal Service’s reach without sunk costs for vehicles and personnel.

Why It Matters: The Office of Inspector General said in a report this week that local and headquarters management of the contractor program needs to be improved, noting that inconsistent security screening and badging created risks for unauthorized access to Postal Service facilities, while poor processes for motor vehicle accident reporting and insufficient evaluation of English proficiency compromised safety and mail security.

Sloppy management also resulted in unnecessary spending because some local administrators made extra trip payments totaling $1. 9 million using the incorrect rate, primarily due to inadequate training and inconsistent guidance. Recent oversight failures have led to significant mail security breaches involving contract mail carriers.

In 2024, for example, a vendor who had not completed a mandatory background check, discarded deliverable mail in a dumpster. And multiple outsourced carriers took mail to their residences to sift through and destroy rather than completing their assigned routes Security breakdowns The Inspector General found widespread gaps in security during site visits.

Only 35% of 69 outside mail carriers interviewed possessed a valid badge, which indicates they had passed a background check. In 14 cases, badges had expired as far back as 2021. Thirty-one persons did not possess a badge.

More than 60% of the sample size had not been issued an electronic barcode, suggesting they had not passed or completed a background check. Post office administrators didn’t ensure supplier compliance with the badge requirements because a large majority of them didn’t understand or follow the required security screening process, according to the report.

One administrator told investigators he granted exceptions to several contract mail carriers to work without approved clearances because they had not been in the United States long enough to pass their security clearance.

Additionally, there is no system or controls in place to notify local officials when clearances and badges are approaching expiration, or had expired. Missing or expired badges hinder management’s ability to verify if someone is authorized to access Postal Service operational areas or permitted to deliver mail, the inspector general said.

Irregular badge use across multiple offices also undermined the accuracy of route-level performance checks. Data showed nearly 3,800 instances where a single contractor’s badge was used to scan mail on two or more delivery routes on the same day, suggesting that badges were shared.

Owner-operators are supposed to use their own badge to scan only the mail assigned to their specific route. Badge sharing violations even extended to Postal Service employees who logged into scanners used by vendors, resulting in 1. 5 million pieces of mail scanned using unauthorized credentials.

Worse, more 416,000 of those scans were completed using badges not tied to the local facility or even the region, indicating broader control deficiencies, the report said. In comparison to the total volume — the USPS processes and delivers 361 million pieces per day — the affected mail is small.

Auditors called on the USPS to make sure local administrators verify all independent drivers have active security clearances and valid badges and terminate access to Postal Service facilities for contract mail carriers who were denied a security clearance.

And the head of delivery operations should establish an automated process to notify post office managers when a supplier’s badge is approaching expiration and prompt administrative officials to either submit a renewal package for badge continuation or verify the badge is collected and returned after expiration.

Insufficient English-language proficiency Language barriers also pose safety risks. Investigators found that some suppliers couldn’t speak English well enough to routinely respond to inquiries from Postal Service personnel and customers despite contract requirements.

At two of 10 sites, some mail carriers could not answer simple questions such as: Do you have a current badge? What type of vehicle do you have? “Beyond general miscommunication, limited English proficiency can