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After logging approximately 1.3 million miles on primarily gravel roads, Rich Wajer of Slayton is retiring from his job at our local United Parcel Service. “I’m officially retiring on February 28th, but I’ve got several weeks of vacation to use so my last day of driving was on January 6th. I have mixed feelings about retiring, but I guess it’s another step in life,” said Rich.
Though Rich has driven the truck delivering packages for twenty- eight years, he began thirty-five years ago with UPS. “I started as a mechanic. I enjoyed that work, but the hours were 1:00 am until 10:00 am”. Rich explained that drivers begin their day at 9:30 and finish when the job is done and the truck is empty. He said, “I always worked from Slayton and drove the Walnut Grove and Revere route. It was about 160-200 miles a day and about 90% of it was on gravel roads.” Rich added that he was never worried about the driving but weather sometimes made his work challenging. “This year the days before Christmas were difficult!” He explained his job required a lot of physical work, with drivers expected to move up to 150 pounds. “I always had a cart and I used it a lot in my later years. Was that because I was getting older or just wiser?!” Of course the experienced driver saw many changes throughout his years at UPS. “I’ve noticed changes in the size of boxes and the amount. We still go out with the same number of pieces, but the sizes of the boxes are smaller. We also deliver to a lot more stops than when I started. The trucks are different too. Now we have V-8 engines, power steering and automatic transmission.” He added, “There have always been allowances, but UPS expects a full day’s work and we get paid for it. It’s a good job and I wouldn’t wish anything different in my life.” Like most retirees, Rich is feeling a bit melancholy as he turns in his keys. “I’m going to miss the people I work with and my customers especially. I saw a lot of my customers on a daily basis and I want to thank them all.” It won’t be easy for this busy man to slow down, but he’s looking forward to spending more time with family, especially attending his grandchildren’s activities. He also plans to ride his motorcycle and work on his collector car. “I’ll probably
