5 Post Office Branches Plan to Extend Hours

Beginning today, five Ventura County branches of the U.S. Postal Service will extend their weekday and weekend hours.

Offices in Fillmore, Ojai and Santa Paula will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The Moorpark and Port Hueneme offices will be open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

“For the people in this community, it’s going to be a big benefit,” said Richard Horne, postmaster at the Fillmore branch, which serves about 600 customers daily. “Parents work. They have difficulty getting to the post office between 9 and 5.”

Horne said the extra hours might actually lighten the workload of his employees.

“Maybe it will help limit the noontime rush and the early morning start-up,” he said. “But it’s going to take some creative management to cover the extended periods.”

Last month, the post offices on C Street and Saviers Road in Oxnard began operating from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The Ventura offices on East Santa Clara Avenue and Wake Forest Avenue increased their hours to 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

a The additional hours are part of an increase in service at 25 Southern California postal branches.