The Postal Service's Selection of a Location for Its Technical Training Center

GAO presented preliminary observations on the Postal Service's (USPS) decision to build a new technical training center at Norman, Oklahoma, rather than relocating the center from Norman to a former college in Seneca Falls, New York. The USPS estimates of the cost to rehabilitate and construct additional facilities at the college were about $9 million less than its estimated costs for facility construction at Norman. GAO was concerned that the methods USPS used may have caused the estimates to be overstated. GAO also felt that the estimates on the personnel and equipment relocation costs needed further evaluation since USPS assumed that all of its professional staff members would relocate and did not consider that some employees might not elect to move. USPS also concluded that air fare costs were less expensive between Oklahoma and selected points of origin but did not compute the total potential savings. GAO made a more comprehensive study of the travel costs and concluded that travel costs to Oklahoma would be at least $200,000 less per year. GAO believes that USPS did not evaluate the costs of locating at the college as well as it evaluated the costs for Norman and that additional evaluations would be needed to confirm those observations.