YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Yokota postal officials are revamping the operating hours for the parcel mailing counter.
Starting next week, the counter will be closed Mondays, will open an hour later other days, and will offer extended hours every Saturday, according to assistant postmaster Tech. Sgt. Marc Nickelberry.
He said the new hours make sense given customer usage patterns.
"We have crunched our financial data and found that during the last year, more pounds of mail have been generated on Saturdays," Nickelberry said in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes.
He said many customers have asked for extended Saturday operating hours, and the planned 5:30 p.m. closing time — instead of 2 p.m. — will mean they won’t have to rush.
"Our customer service had been a focal point as of late," Nickelberry said, "and we had to address this issue."
Instead of opening at 9 a.m., the counter will open at 10 a.m., he said. That means the counter will open the same time as the parcel pick-up window, so the post office can "effectively utilize personnel during peak business hours, provide efficient quality-control procedures, reduce customer service lines [and] complaints," he said.
Nickelberry added that the new hours of operation mean that clerks will have the necessary training time to accomplish their jobs and will help them ensure that all mail is posted before cutoff times.
"In the long run, we foresee this as benefiting the entire Yokota community by giving them a better product," he said.
Yokota post office’s new scheduleParcel pick-up window:
