Holiday Lines Are Moving Quickly at Post Offices

Like shopping malls and outlet centers throughout Ventura County, local post offices are also experiencing the usual last-minute holiday crush of customers.

Despite this being one of the busiest weeks of the year, the county’s postal centers are moving people through at a fairly quick pace, according to officials and patrons.

“Last year the line wrapped around here a couple of times and there was quite a delay, so this isn’t so bad,” said customer Laurie Gay of her less than 10-minute wait Thursday afternoon at the Oxnard post office.

Other postal centers around the county also had a steady stream of customers coming through their doors Thursday. But in most cases, the wait was less than 15 minutes.

“Our volume is on par with other Christmases, but we’ve added an extra window clerk to help move people through quickly,” said Russ Adams, postmaster at the Simi Valley post office. “We’re prepared for it, so there hasn’t been much of a shock.”

This week the U.S. Postal Service expects to have the heaviest volume of incoming packages and letters, while next week will bring the crush of having to deliver all those Christmas toys, stuffed animals and goodies for grandma.

The Thousand Oaks post office said its volume of incoming parcels is triple that of non-holiday periods.

“Our windows are fully staffed, but we are still overwhelmed by customers,” said Joe Camarcho, the dispatch supervisor in Thousand Oaks. “Usually it would take each person less than a minute [at the window], but right now they need the packages to be weighed or insured, or some want it express. And that just takes longer.”

Richard Horne, postmaster at the Ventura post office, agreed the holiday season brings a deluge of customers, but said the volume of overall mail isn’t necessarily higher than at other times. It’s just of a different nature, he said.

“Three months ago we had tons of advertising; now it’s all cards and packages and very little advertising,” he said. Last week his office delivered 39,000 packages. In non-Christmas periods it would deliver about half that volume.

“Right after Christmas we’ll have all the advertisements for 50%-off sales and then the IRS booklets and election information,” he said. “So the type of mail changes a lot.”

That change is both good and bad for those responsible for transporting the packages to homes across the country.

“We are the backbone of the system, the ones that hear the complaints and carry the extra load,” said Michael Blanco, a letter carrier for the Ventura post office.

Blanco said sometimes he will need to make additional trips in a day to deliver the bulky packages. “But it’s nice because this time of year we are dealing with real mail--all the cards and presents, not just the junk.”

But for those patient souls waiting in line, with packages stacked on the floor around them, what they care about is getting in and out quickly.

“The line isn’t so bad,” said Anne Hurst, shuffling through her 25 Christmas cards destined for her family in Britain. “Most people don’t like standing in line, but I’m used to it coming from England. Queuing is our national pastime.”