(KLZA)--Three Missouri and two Kansas members of Congress serving constituents in the greater Kansas City area forwarded a joint letter last week to the U.S. Postal Service demanding action to rectify problems with missing or delayed mail and protracted periods in which no mail was delivered at all.

Republicans Reps. Sam Graves of Tarkio and Mark Alford, both of Missouri, and Rep. Jake LaTurner of Kansas, as well as Democrats Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri and Sharice Davids of Kansas, forwarded the letter to USPS postmaster general Louis DeJoy, pointing to a July federal audit of the Kansas City Postal and Distribution Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and stations in Hickman Mills in Missouri as well as in Mission and Kansas City on the Kansas side of the border.

Deficiencies at the distribution center touched on mail clearance times, delayed mail, late cancellations and dock scanning during an inspection period in May, USPS auditors said. The report said challenges at the three stations included document scanning, delayed mail and property conditions.

The inspector general concluded USPS ought to address problems with employee staffing and recommended supervisors prepare better for staff absences in the Kansas City region.

Federal lawmakers said USPS ought to implement strategies to mitigate mail delays, ensure compliance with processing procedures, improve delivery logistics, and upgrade safety and security policies for staff at the mail facilities.

The representatives said residents of communities across Kansas and Missouri relied on consistent mail service and deserved better support from USPS management.