An audit of the use of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) by the United States Postal Service found the equipment was not being used properly and therefore not delivering expected cost savings of USD105 million.

The audit, by the Office of Inspector General US Postal Service, included inspections of facilities where AGVs were supposed to be deployed between February and August this year.

“We found unused or underused AGVs at all nine processing facilities visited,” the audit report says.

“At the Royal Palm Processing and Distribution Centre (P&DC), we found AGVs covered in plastic wrap. At the Middlesex-Essex P&DC, we found all 15 AGVs sitting uncharged in a closed wing of the processing facility. At the Los Angeles P&DC, we found AGVs used to block off floor space instead of moving mail.”

As of May 2023, the US Postal Service had deployed 394 AGVs to 25 processing facilities and one training location. The fleet consists of pallet jacks and tuggers, supported by two proprietary technologies to manage their use.

The introduction of AGVs was intended to reduce mail handling hours and generate labour saving.

However, the audit found the AGVs were not being used properly, and planned labour cuts of around USD105 million had not happened.

The report says 24% of the fleet had not completed a single mission in 2022. “In addition, 84 AGVs (22%) only completed, on average, less than one mission per day.”

The reasons given for the underuse of the robots included narrow and cluttered aisles, lack of training and a lack of management support, the report says.

The audit also found the Postal Service did not have accurate records for its AGV fleet, with one online inventory management system recording 394 AGVs while a maintenance system had a list of 402 AGVs.

“One capital ID was assigned to an AGV that may not exist,” the report says. “Sixteen AGVs were not assigned to the correct facility (and) 230 AGV capital asset listings lacked identifying information, such as serial number or model.”

The audit report recommended US Postal Service management evaluate AGV locations and performance and train staff in the best practice and use of AGVs.

It also recommended the service check its record-keeping of its AGV fleet.