IG Calls USPS Fleet Card Use Into Question

An Inspector General (IG) report into the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) use of fleet cards has turned up some questionable practices and millions of dollars of questionable transactions, reports Friday (April 7) said.

The report, which explored USPS fleet card use across the eastern area of the U.S., found there needs to be tighter controls and oversight of spending as 42 percent of transactions sampled in the IG’s analysis were not supported by receipts or invoices.

Oversight of those fleet cards is “inadequate,” the IG concluded, and management “did not ensure fleet specialty credit card transactions and related supported documentation were reviewed at least monthly, maintained for two years, and provided to the appropriate VMF [vehicle maintenance facilities] as required.

“Also,” the report added, “management did not ensure that PINs and fleet specialty credit cards were properly managed and secured.”

The USPS operates one of the largest fleets in the U.S., the IG said, at 227,000 vehicles. Every vehicle owned by the USPS has a fleet credit card to buy fuel and oil and for maintenance expense as high as $300. Reports said the USPS does deploy certain controls on those expenses and assigns PINs to employees to ensure proper authorization of card use.

But the IG’s report said those initiatives do not go far enough.

“Without management oversight to ensure receipts, invoices or work orders to support credit card transactions and PINs are properly administered, [and] site managers and VMF managers are unable to determine if charges are appropriate or if vehicle maintenance records are complete,” the report stated. “We estimate the eastern area incurred $9.9 million in questioned costs for unsupported fleet specialty credit card transactions in FY 2016.”