Families throughout the Northland are sending Christmas cards, presents for the holidays, and other deliveries. But there’s been a lack of mail being delivered by the US Postal Service.

Minnesota residents have reported not receiving letters or packages in the past two weeks. According to a report from an Inspector General, there have been over 130,000 missing or delayed pieces of mail at six post offices in Minnesota over the course of two days.

U.S. Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar (MN-D) sent a letter asking the US Postmaster General Louis Dejoy about the significant delays.

“Every holiday season we see these extra pressures on the post office, which is understandable. But what is really not acceptable is the way in which the national office just fails year after year,” Sen. Smith said. “The incredibly hardworking letter carriers, especially the rural letter carriers, are doing their utmost to try to get people’s mail without the support that they need from their national office.”

U.S. Senators from Minnesota and North Dakota have introduced a bipartisan bill, the Postal Delivery Accountability Act. This piece of legislation would address the united states postal service’s failure to accurately track when mail routes do not receive deliveries.

“Whether you live in a big town, or a little town, or out in small communities, you count on the mail and the US post office. Their job is to deliver the mail on time, there’s an issue with challenges with staffing, but that becomes a self-fulfilling problem, right?” Sen. Smith said. “If it’s a bad place to work because you don’t have the support that you need from the main office, then it’s harder to recruit people and they just seem to not be able to get ahead of this problem every year.”

If you have been waiting significantly longer for your mail, it’s recommended by the USPS to reach out to your local post master. Senators Klobuchar and Smith are waiting for a response from Post Master General Louis Dejoy next Thursday.

Here’s more information on the US Postmaster General’s comments before a hearing from the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Also here are other stories regarding mail delivered by the US Postal Service.