E-commerce shippers exploit USPS to dispose of undelivered packages

The U. S. Postal Service lost $163 million in revenue over a 12-month period because it was unable to track a surge in undeliverable packages from e-commerce shippers that treat the carrier as a free disposal service, according to an inspector general’s report published Thursday. The number of packages that ended up at the Postal Service’s “lost & found” unit because they couldn’t be delivered or returned to sender increased 45% during the 12-month period ending in February, driven in large part by fulfillment centers refusing the packages, the U. S.