# Federal Agencies Reduce Administrative Waste

The State Department eliminated 1.41 million pieces of commercial mail over slightly more than two years, with estimated operational savings exceeding $5 million. Separately, pilots at five Air Force installations reduced mail volume by as much as 70%. The commentary recommends evaluating these approaches governmentwide; it does not announce a solicitation or contract award, but the results point to potential future interest in tools and services that identify and prevent administratively unnecessary work.

- Procurement teams can use the reported mail reductions and savings as benchmarks when assessing proposals to reduce low-value administrative activity.
- Companies offering workflow-analysis or mail-management tools can connect their capabilities to measurable outcomes, while recognizing that no procurement opportunity or agency requirement has been announced.
- The State Department and Air Force examples provide a basis for comparing pilot results and potential scalability; the broader governmentwide evaluation is a recommendation in the commentary, not a confirmed agency action.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Information Technology
**Published:** October 26, 2026

### Government Entities
- U.S. Department of State (State Department)
- U.S. Air Force (USAF)
- Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center (AFIMSC)
- United States Postal Service (USPS)

### Vendors
- Intra-Mail Network (Developer of the Waste-Free Mail app)

### Sources
- [
        Government efficiency starts before the work begins - Federal News Network](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2026/10/government-efficiency-starts-before-the-work-begins) - Federal News Network