A new report now confirms failures by U.S. postal service leadership across northern Minnesota.

An investigation found tens of thousands of pieces of delayed mail and serious postal management failures across the northland.

The investigation was launched at the request of U.S. senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar. Senator smith telling WDIO News that the report showed no wrong-doing on the part of postal delivery people, but serious failures with upper-level management practices.

“They didn’t have the support that they should have from their top management,” Smith said, adding “As a result, folks in the region really suffered. We had 79,000 pieces of mail that were delivered late and that’s just unacceptable.”

Following the release of the inspector general’s report, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar released the following statement.

“Families in Bemidji and the surrounding communities rely on the Postal Service every day for everything from their prescriptions to paychecks, but I received troubling reports about significant delays and issues with local mail delivery. That is why I called for an investigation and for solutions,” said Klobuchar. “The results of this audit are very concerning and the Postal Service must work to implement the Inspector General’s recommendations to improve operations and provide Northern Minnesota post offices with the resources they need to serve their customers.  Minnesotans deserve to have a reliable and responsive Postal Service.”

Senator Smith said that a report on statewide service delivery issues is expected to be released in the coming weeks and that she and senator Klobuchar will ensure post office upper management follows recommendations that were described in the inspector general’s report.