DMV to Expand Saturday Services

To serve customers who cannot stop by a local Department of Motor Vehicles office on weekdays, the DMV announced plans Monday to offer Saturday services once a month at 158 of the agency’s largest field offices.

But to keep DMV staffing costs down, the department will close those same offices on Mondays preceding the Saturday openings.

“We’re pleased to make it easier for hard-working people to take care of their business with us one Saturday per month,” said DMV Director Steven Gourley.

The new schedule starts July 15, when most DMV offices will be closed.

On the following Tuesday through Friday, those DMV offices will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., adding an hour to each day.

On July 20, the offices will be open from 8 a.m. to noon.

The extra hour during those weekdays was added to give workers a full 40-hour work week.

That schedule will be repeated each month, usually on the third Saturday of each month.

“Our employees like it because they get a three-day weekend once a month,” said a DMV spokesman, Steve Haskins.

Those few offices that already offer weekly Saturday hours will adopt the new schedule, he said.

One of the reasons for the schedule change is that offices that already offer Saturday hours have routinely been inundated with customers from areas without Saturday services.

There are 12 DMV offices statewide--mostly in small, outlying communities such as Blythe and Needles--that will not be affected by the new schedule.